


The Reeducation of Jocelyn Possible

by StarvingLunatic



Series: Pariah [8]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, F/F, Families of Choice, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Homophobia, KiGo, Lesbian Character, Major Original Character(s), Mild Sexual Content, Novel, Relationship Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Sisters, Summer, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-20
Updated: 2009-05-30
Packaged: 2020-08-10 18:16:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20139859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: Sequel to Cryptic...kind of. Latest in the Pariah universe. Joss comes to stay with Trin and Kim for the summer. The sisters try to connect with Joss, who is a little difficult about things. Can Joss learn to get along with her cousins?





	1. Hard News Over Breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin, Shin, Tatsu, and Booker.
> 
> A/N: For you Shin fans, this is another story he’s not really in. Sorry. Also, you might want to read Cryptic to remind yourself what happened when we last saw Joss. And the story earns it’s M-rating right now.
> 
> Come say hi to me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SL-Kassidy-482097488469386/).

The Reeducation of Jocelyn Possible

1: Hard News Over Breakfast

The apartment was cloaked in shadows, hugged by the night like a gentle lover. Everything was still… well, almost everything. The apartment was not the only one being held by a gentle lover.

“Oh, god!”

Passion-fueled, earth-shattering moans followed what could have been mistaken for a prayer… or someone enjoying taking the Lord’s name in vain. The words bounced off the walls, but missed the ears of the source each time they returned. The mouth that spoke those words would have been surprised the words flowed from it. Was the brain capable of instruction with such a delicious distraction? Apparently so.

“Oh, god!”

Blond locks spilled over a pink-covered pillow as the owner thrashed about wildly as more loud “prayers” erupted from a wide, open mouth. Tears gathered and fell from eyes that were seared shut from the fiery pleasure burning through lively veins thanks to receptive nerves. The tears mixed with the thin glow of sweat coating the writhing, pale body, making the squirming form’s joy known in every possible way.

“Oh, god!”

Small hands slammed against the headboard of the large bed and then shot back downward, entangling themselves in an unruly mop of ebony hair that was going in every direction, upsetting gravity with its disobedience. Feeling the pressure, the response to the hands losing themselves in onyx locks, a sand-colored hand crept upward from underneath pink covers. The tanned appendage trailed a hot path from the creamy abdomen to a bouncing breast. Strong fingers stilled the excited mound and entertained the soft hill with deep, tender kneading.

“Oh, god!”

As more “prayers” flowed, the devout follower felt more and more like the worshipped. The warm, knowing worshipper who turned her inside out with the simplest of movements had to be divine. She was convinced of that. Only a goddess could do something so perfectly, so absolute.

“Oh, god!”

Nectar, the libation, was taken in with fervor as it flowed from the goddess. The worshipper wanted nothing more than to drink the sweet wine forever, to hear those ardent screams forever, and to feel the fair body writhe due to her for all eternity. Alas, that was not meant to be. The clenching around her, like heaven beckoning her, told her that nothing lasted forever. But, things could be prolonged.

“Oh, god!”

The “prayers” were the same, but the motion of the worship changed. The pace sped up, mouth murmuring, beseeching for glory, and forgiveness. Hands pressed, begging for peace, and amnesty. A final “prayer” was offered, undoubtedly loud enough to touch the heavens as paradise was achieved, and salvation should have been attained. Movement ceased as the session was winding down. Glory and peace were reached, but forgiveness, amnesty, and salvation still seemed like a dream.

“Baby, you are a love goddess,” Trin muttered as she continued to try to catch her breath. Mellow did not begin to cover how she felt. It was like her body was wrapped in warmth and love.

There was no verbal response, but Tatsu tried to bury herself deeper in flushed skin, cuddling into burning, tingling flesh. Trin giggled a little because of her lover impersonating a mole and it tickled her sensitive skin. She reached down, wanting to bring Tatsu to her level, wanting to feel all of her love. It was no easy task since Trin was not really attempting to do any lifting, not when she could barely feel her arms beyond delight, and Tatsu did not seem very interested in moving.

“Baby, I can’t return the favor if you stay down there,” the blond pointed out with a pout on her face. She looked forward to returning the favor.

Tatsu, again, did not respond verbally. She wrapped her arms around Trin’s waist and buried herself as deep as she could in the warmth of the body beneath her. Her hands took up residency on the cushion of Trin’s ass and she held on for dear life, like she was scared if she did not Trin would disappear.

“Baby—” Trin did not get to go further than the term of endearment.

“Sleep…” Tatsu muttered with a little yawn. She was quite content where she was as she leaned against wonderfully hot flesh and planned to doze off right there. Best pillow in the world.

Trin watched as her lover drifted off to sleep, head resting on Trin’s pale thigh. Trin smiled softly at the sight, but a sigh escaped her lips as her shoulders slumped. Reaching down, she caressed the top of Tatsu’s head and then fought down a burning in her chest. _It’s fine. This is fine_. She made sure Tatsu was covered as best she could be with the sheet on the bed while she supposed she lucky it was such a warm night since she was going to be sleeping bare to the room.

“Why won’t you let me touch you anymore, baby?” Trin asked in a low, sorrowful voice. She blinked back a sting in her eyes.

The hot air that still smelled of her passion offered her no answer. Tatsu’s light breathing was not of much assistance on the matter either. The slither of moonlight sneaking in through the curtained window nothing to say on the matter, but cast an eerie glow across her pale chest.

“I just want to show you how much I love you, too,” she whispered and she swallowed down a lump in her throat.

Trin could not recall the last time she had been able to bring her love to climax and it hurt her places she did not even know existed until recently. It made it impossible to enjoy any afterglow, even when Tatsu cuddled against her. The press of the mechanic’s body was a physical reminder of what was now denied to her. The feel of warm skin and light breathing made her want to weep.

“Why are you doing this to me, baby?” Trin wiped the sting from her eyes. While there were no tears, she felt at such a loss.

Their encounters lately consisted of Tatsu making love to her and then falling sleep as soon as she possibly could without making their time together awkward, which was quite off-putting and awkward. There was little interaction between them. No light kisses or caresses. There was no conversation, no pillow talk. Nothing beyond Trin having an orgasm and then it was like Tatsu shut off, like Trin’s climax was a switch.

Trin was not sure what to make of such behavior, but it troubled her. Troubled her enough to leave her mind turning it over, pondering it almost every night. She came up with strange theories as often as possible. Sometimes, every hour, she had a new reason, but not the truth. _I’d think if she doesn’t find me attractive anymore, she’d stop touching me rather than stop me from touching her_. _Wait, she hasn’t stopped me. It’s not like she’s ordered me not to touch her_.

No, true, Tatsu had not said anything in words, but as always, her body and her actions told most of the story. The mechanic hardly ever looked her in the eye anymore, especially when they were intimate. Tatsu kept her eyes on her task, which usually involved a body part of Trin that was well below her head. It would be impossible to believe Tatsu was not attracted to her from the attention she gave Trin’s body, but there was something to be said that Tatsu would not look at her.

_Why wouldn’t she want to connect with me during this moment? _It was called intimacy for a reason. They lacked that now and Trin could not understand why. She tried.

Whenever Trin initiated an intimate moment, no matter where or when, Tatsu somehow — and quite rapidly — turned things around, so she was in charge and she touched Trin. Tatsu made sure to keep the blond unhinged enough for Trin to keep her hands to herself beyond pulling Tatsu to her for more. Sometimes, the shorter woman went as far as pinning Trin’s hands above her head. At first, Trin thought this was just Tatsu trying out some old kinks, back from when they first met, which was something Trin would have been fine with. But, after it happened frequently, she knew something was wrong. She just could not figure out what was wrong.

_The baggage of being with me might actually be getting to her. Is she hinting that she wants out? She doesn’t want me touching her anymore. But, if she wants out, why did she agree to come live with me for the summer_? In fact, it had been Tatsu’s idea! _Maybe Tatsu now considers it a bad idea_. 

-*-(Flashback)-*-

“Baby, you know you didn’t have to come all of this way to help the idiot-wonder pack,” Trin told Tatsu as the mechanic entered the apartment.

Tatsu shrugged, knowing she did not have to come, but she wanted to help get Shin out of the place as quickly as possible. The sooner he was gone, the sooner she and Trin would have the place to themselves. She could hardly imagine how that would be, but she could not wait to find out.

“I heard that!” Shin shouted from his room. They could hear him moving back and forth in the area. With luck, he was doing what he was supposed to be doing and not wasting more time.

“And I’m supposed to care?” Trin called to him while rolling her eyes.

“Shut the hell up and help me pack, shrew!”

Trin rolled her eyes again and motioned for Tatsu to go first. Tatsu sighed and shook her head, steeling herself to enter the wasteland that was known as Shin’s room. Trin smiled at her.

“I cleaned it before you came over,” Trin promised.

The mechanic exhaled thankfully and then marched into Shin’s room. It was surprisingly clean, enough to make her pause and blink hard as she took everything in. She doubted she had ever seen so much of his furniture and was shocked to find out the floor was carpeted with a dark blue rug. Somehow, Trin had even managed to get rid of the smell. Shin’s room always reeked of mild smoke, which was weird for a guy who did not smoke anything, rotting food, and stale sweat. Now, it smelled like orange blossoms.

Shin was already wrecking the room like the force of nature he was as he ripped through his closet and all of the drawers in his dresser. Suitcases lay open and waiting on his bed, but appeared to already be coughing up clothing. Blue eyes rolled when they noticed the suitcases and a sigh echoed through the room.

Trin pinched the bridge of her nose. Tatsu’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what the hell Shin was trying to accomplish. She glanced at Trin, figuring she could always solve the puzzle that was Shin.

“Help him pick out clothing that’s practical for hot weather while I fold this stuff,” Trin requested as she started straightening out his luggage. She folded her arms across her chest, fed up with Shin already. How hard was it to keep a room clean for twenty minutes?

“Warm like Florida?” Tatsu asked quietly while turning to the closet. She could not for the life of her remember where the hell Shin was spending his summer this year. It might have had something to do with the fact that she really did not care. She just wanted him out of the apartment and her blond bombshell all to herself.

“Warm like Texas. He’s going to be in New Mexico for the summer,” Trin reminded her love.

“Oh. Are you sure Booker will be able to stand him all summer?” Tatsu asked, quite seriously. She hoped Booker did not send the crazy half-Japanese man back before she got all of her time in with Trin. In truth, she could not figure out how anyone could stand Shin for that long. She could not understand what Booker liked about Shin enough not just to date him, but to want Shin to meet his family. But, who was she to judge?

“It’s not Booker I’m worried about. Can you imagine how Booker’s mother is going to react to sharing a space with this one all summer?” Trin motioned to her friend, who was tearing through a drawer, spewing freshly washed t-shirts all over the place. Trin’s lip curled in fury, but her mouth did not voice her feelings. _Why do I bother to do his laundry?_ Well, because she knew he would not, purposely being lazy and getting on her nerves, and she did not want to deal with that smell. 

“Hey, I’m damned fine company!” Shin declared and then it looked like he had an epiphany… or a stomachache. It was hard to tell with him. “I need my bathroom stuff!” He rushed out of the room to get his other travel supplies.

“Hard to believe he has to leave in less than two hours,” Trin said, shaking her head.

Tatsu looked around. “He thought you’d pack for him, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he did, even though I told him I wouldn’t. He has to grow up at some point.” 

“Or so we hope,” Tatsu muttered under her breath. He was still sort of getting his way, as Trin folded whatever he picked out and Tatsu scanned his things for items he might be able to take to New Mexico. She really did not want to help, but would since her girlfriend asked. She would rather be doing a list of other things, but picked a couple of shirts and considered herself done. She would rather think about her summer than Shin’s. 

“If he got any more unorganized, he would come full circle and end up anal, which he’d love,” Trin remarked and she did not bother to apologize for the pun. Tatsu missed it anyway because she had other things on her mind involving Shin’s departure for the summer.

“Um…” Tatsu inched closer to her lover. “…Um…what’re you gonna do while he’s gone?” she asked shyly, glancing at her girlfriend and then at the floor. Was it too much to hope she was part of said plans? Probably not, but she considered her idea might be too much.

Trin did not seem to think the question was so odd and continued folding clothes. “Me? I’m going to actually keep the apartment clean for three months and I do have classes to keep me busy. I’m also going to try to help Kim adjust to taking summer classes, not that I think she’ll need much help.”

“Oh.” Tatsu sounded dejected, eyes remaining on the floor now, searching for something, but she was not sure what. “Yeah, you’d have your clone around and Shego…” Trin had people around her and stuff to do. She did not need Tatsu pushing into her plans. _Does she really need me point blank?_

“Baby, is something wrong?” Trin asked as she glanced up to see her girlfriend eyeing the floor with a hard look of concentration in her ice-blue eyes.

Tatsu took a deep breath and decided to press forward. She was pretty sure Trin liked having her around and she wanted a chance to prove herself to her lover. “I was just thinking you might get lonely here. I mean, three months by yourself is a long time…” Tatsu paused to push around an imaginary rock with her foot. She looked like such a bashful little girl that her lover could not help smiling. She took another breath and then continued. “…Um… Maybe I could… you know… stay with you… to make sure you don’t get lonely.”

“Baby, I’d love for you to live here for the summer!” Trin threw her arms around her lover and placed a fiery kiss on Tatsu’s mouth. Trin was certain it would be amazing for them to live together, even if it was just for the summer. They would get a chance to be a real couple, sharing a space, and seeing how they would interact with each other if they could see each other everyday. They melted together like always and before Tatsu could pull away, Shin burst in.

“Dude, not in my room! This is my sanctuary!” Shin cried as if he was completely and utterly disgusted. He threw his hands up, dropped his toothbrush, and waved around very close to them, trying to get them to move apart. It did not work. 

-*-(End Flashback)-*-

Trin sighed and rubbed her forehead as she looked down at her sleeping girlfriend. _Why would she want to live with me over the summer if she’s getting bored with me? Well, maybe it’s the living together thing that’s bothering her. She’s not used to seeing me every second of everyday. I’m not very entertaining either_. Most people would probably consider her downright dull when she was left to her own devices.

Hell, Trin’s favorite pastime when she could just relax was reading. She curled up on the couch with a book and took notes as she read. The notes were for experiments she may or may not do. Without Shin around, she was very likely to do any experiments at school rather than home, as he was not there to get her kicked out of the vastly superior lab at school. Most people would find that boring, right?

Tatsu had been living with her for couple of weeks and Trin was certain she had not changed her habits to include her lover. She went about living with Tatsu how she lived with Shin, or so she thought anyway. She cooked breakfast in the morning, left for class, came home, curled up on the sofa with tea and a book, did homework, and then went to bed. It was routine. _It’s wrong_.

Tatsu was not her roommate. Tatsu was not her best friend. Tatsu was the love of her life. Living together should be different and Trin was certain she was the one ruining it. She had not adjusted properly.

_Baby, I’ll make this up to you. I won’t give you up without a fight_. Even though she made the vow in her head, Trin felt it was the most important promise she could made to Tatsu. She would make it a point to pay more attention to her lover, to show she was pleased with the mechanic’s presence, and to act more like a live-in girlfriend with Tatsu than whatever it was she was doing.

_But, how do I act like a live-in girlfriend? _For once in her life, Trin did not have the answers. Well, maybe not once. She was often at a loss when it came to personal issues. She would figure it out, though. She refused to lose Tatsu, especially to her own incompetence.

“I need to come up with a plan. A proper plan,” Trin muttered to the air. The idea of making a plan kept her comfortable and relaxed. She knew how to plan and if she could plan, she could get things done.

Trin drifted to sleep thanks to the exhaustion of Tatsu’s earlier efforts and the solace of knowing she could strategize and fix this, fix _them_. In the morning, she woke up first as always. They had a routine. Tatsu would not rise until she smelled breakfast. Trin suspected Tatsu went right back to sleep after breakfast now. Trin left for class right after breakfast when she had school and Tatsu was not used to rising in the morning when she was back in Middleton. Those were their mornings together and that had to change. There needed to be more interaction. Maybe she should call or text Tatsu throughout the day to find out what her girlfriend did with her time. _That’s now part of my plan_.

The blond put her glasses on before anything else and then made sure to turn the alarm off of her clock. She usually woke up before the thing went off, but always set it just in case. She looked down at her resting girlfriend to see Tatsu was knocked out in the same position she had fallen asleep last night.

Trin had a lot of practice extracting herself from a sleeping Tatsu, so she was able to slide out of bed without waking her love. She grabbed some clothes and made her way to the bathroom for her morning shower. She turned on the water, undressed, and then spent a long time looking at herself in the full-body mirror that hung on the wall in the bathroom. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

“Same old me… mostly,” Trin said to the air as her hands trailed to the most recent additions to her body, things that had been absent when she and Tatsu first started dating.

The first things her fingers traveled to were her gun shot wounds. The evidence she was not invincible, immortal, or terribly lucky, even though she lived through it. To her, being shot in the first place proved all of those facts. It was still jarring to realize her own mortality. Two small holes of wrinkled, rough skin marred what she used to think was her perfect physique.

Then there was her latest misadventure that happened a little over a month ago when she had gotten reacquainted with the man who helped create her. He had teamed up with Shego’s favorite former employer and brought havoc into her life, Shin’s life, everyone’s lives. Nothing was broken beyond repair at the time… nothing bodily, anyway. Minds were another matter.

There were still some scratches and marks dotting her body, though. It only made sense. There was no way to walk away from a fight against Doctor Director while there were lasers going off all around her and remain unscathed. She was not sure if they would ever go completely away, much like the mental scars. At least her nose had healed well.

_The one thing about me that could’ve truly been perfect, gone. I’m marred by the reminders of how crazy my life or being around me can be. Why would she want to stay with me? I’m broken, shattered, so why?_ Trin shook her head. Just once, she wished the damned air had an answer or two to help repair her life.

She let it go as steam clouded the mirror and went about her usual morning, hopping into the shower. She brushed her teeth, combed out her hair, and got dressed in comfortable pink pants with a yellow button-down shirt. She applied some light makeup before exiting the bathroom.

She was not surprised when she went into the dining room, Shego sat at the table, reading the paper, like she was at a café waiting for her meal to arrive. Kim was at the table, too, cramming her English homework by reading a short story and trying to write what she believed the underlying message of the story was at the same time. By the look on the redhead’s face, it was pretty clear she had no damn clue what the story was about. 

Trin sighed. And she thought with Shin gone, there would be less stress in her life. _What the hell made me think that, I don’t know_.

“Shego, what the hell?” Trin said, motioning to her little sister with a short sweep of her hand. 

“What?” Shego grunted, knowing what the graduate student’s problem was immediately. “Don’t try to blame that shit on me. Kimmie decided to go play hero last night and you know there’s no talking her out of saving the world. I went to bed thoroughly unsatisfied, I’ll have you know.”

“I’ll add that to things I didn’t need to know. Why didn’t you at least go with her?” Trin inquired. 

Shego threw her hands up. “She assured me it’d be easy and she’d be home in no time. I know now there’s at least one lie in there.”

“Mini-me,” Trin scolded the redhead in a sharp, even tone.

Kim did not bother to look up, but shook her head. “I know, I know! But, it was an emergency and I didn’t think a little short story would be so hard to interpret!” Kim replied. She took a moment to bang her head lightly against the table. A dull thud echoed through the room.

Trin sighed again, knowing it would not help to reprimand her little sister anymore. Kim would take this lesson and learn from it, as that was what she did. Plus, it was not like Kim would settle for anything less than an A in any subject. 

Trin went to start breakfast. The apartment was quiet for almost a half-hour. Trin served everyone when breakfast was done, giving Kim a plate of pancakes and a separate plate for her scrambled eggs, as Kim hated getting syrup on her eggs. Tatsu’s plate had six pancakes with eggs going all the way around the short stack; everything was covered in a generous amount of syrup. Shego’s plate was similar to Tatsu’s, except there was no syrup; Shego surprisingly hated the stuff. Trin’s plate mirrored her little sister’s since certain foods and condiments were never supposed to touch.

“Sis, don’t forget we have to pick up Joss tomorrow,” Kim said as she cut her pancakes into eight perfect triangles.

“Joss?” Trin echoed and it was clear from the look on her face she had indeed forgotten about their little cousin coming for a visit. _How could I forget that?_ Well, she had her hands full with Tatsu and their relationship. Before that, she was worried about getting Shin out of the apartment for the summer. 

“We have to get her tomorrow. Her plane should come in at one. That should give us plenty of time,” Kim reminded her older sister. Plenty of time for them to mentally prepare for Joss staying with them.

“Oh, right. When does that program of hers start again?” Trin inquired. Joss had gotten into a special summer program that allowed her to take college courses for college credits. _Of course, the program would have to be held by our university_, she thought. The universe had to love irony. They had agreed to take care of Joss when their Uncle Slim found out the program was at their school.

“Monday. Did you get the room ready for her?” the redhead countered. This caught the attention of Tatsu, as she stumbled to the table and threw herself into the chair in front of her plate. 

“Room?” the mechanic mumbled, picking up her silverware.

“Trin, you didn’t tell Tatsu that Joss was going to stay here?” Kim asked with her mouth hanging open. This was so unlike her big sister! 

“Damn.” Trin removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I had other things on my mind,” she admitted, but she refused to say what those other things were. They mostly involved thoughts of waking up to find her lover gone forever and the fear and pain that spread through her every time she imagined that happening. 

“Why’s your cousin staying here? She doesn’t like Trin much,” Tatsu pointed out.

Shego scoffed before she shoved some pancakes in her mouth. _That’s an understatement_. But, then again, Joss was not fond of any of them.

“Well, Uncle Slim couldn’t afford to put Joss up at the dorms while he’s still having the ranch rebuilt after our little adventure there,” Kim answered. About ten months ago, her uncle’s house and property had been ruined by DNAmy, who was in search of a baby Bigfoot that had taken a strange liking to Tatsu.

“But, why here? Why not you?” Tatsu asked the redhead. She thought Joss liked Kim more than Trin, but then again, that was not saying much considering how the cousins parted with their family in Montana. Either way, Joss staying at the apartment put a damper on her plans of seeing how it was to live with Trin. 

“We don’t have the room. Our spare room is a gym and a poor excuse for a study. Joss can’t sleep on our books or heavy bag,” Kim replied.

“Well, she could, but it probably wouldn’t go over well with your uncle,” Shego remarked.

Olive eyes rolled and then focused back on Tatsu. “Trin agreed to let Joss stay here because she knew Shin’s room would be open,” Kim explained. “Sis, I can’t believe you forgot to tell Tatsu all of this.” 

Tatsu’s eyes drifted down to her food, even though she was suddenly not as hungry as she had been a moment ago. Her stomach felt like it was now digesting itself as her mind tried to assure her that she had not been left out of the loop on purpose. It looked like her lover truly had forgotten all about these plans she made with her relatives. But, that did not explain why she had not been told about the plans when they had been made sometime ago, enough time for Trin to forget. 

“I’ve just had a lot on my mind,” Trin tried to defend herself. She knew it was not a good excuse and if someone offered it to her, she would call “bullshit” right to their face. At the time when she agreed to host Joss, she had not thought Tatsu really needed to know. 

“Bullshit,” Shego coughed, earning a glare from the blond.

“Anyway, Trin, don’t think you think you have something to say?” Kim pressed, staring at her older sister and then her eyes went to Tatsu.

Trin sighed and turned to her girlfriend. “Baby, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you about Joss. I agreed to this before I knew you were going to stay here. If you don’t want her here, I have no problem with paying for her to stay at the dorms.” That would probably make all parties involved happy.

But, really, Trin was lying. She had a little problem with it because she knew her uncle wanted Joss to stay with her and Kim. Slim wanted Joss to accept her cousins and also go back to viewing Kim like the hero she was. Slim was actually embarrassed his daughter pushed Kim away just because Kim was gay… well, gay and dating her former nemesis. He also expressed a desire for Joss to get to know Trin.

Trin was flattered her uncle thought so highly of her that her not having a relationship with his daughter bothered him. She had no desire to let him down. But, she also had no desire to lose her lover and things with Tatsu already seemed quite precarious.

“It’s your apartment,” Tatsu mumbled worse than usual since her mouth was now full of pancakes. She needed something to keep her from talking, something that would keep people from saying anything to her. 

“Baby, you’re living here. If you don’t want her here, I’ll pay to put her in a dorm,” Trin insisted. Doing what her uncle wanted or upsetting her lover, there really was not a contest, especially not when she thought the relationship was slowly slipping away.

“I don’t mind. She can stay,” Tatsu replied.

Shego was about to say something, but Kim glared at her, which kept the words at bay. Something was wrong, both Kim and Shego could tell. They wondered what it was and decided they were going to try to find out… after breakfast. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Joss arrives and brings a storm with her.


	2. Full House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own most of these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu.

2: Full House

“Okay, Tats, what the hell is your problem?” Shego inquired with an arched eyebrow from her spot on the sofa. She was lounging in Trin’s apartment with Tatsu. Their girlfriends had left to fetch their little cousin. She was spread out on the couch like a lazy cat while Tatsu was curled up in the armchair nearby.

“Huh?” Tatsu answered without looking up for her magazine, which she was not really reading. She could not focus much on the words or even the pictures in one of her favorite auto magazines. She wished she could fold into herself a little more, not touch anything, not move, and escape the world until somehow everything was all right. Surely, everything would right itself as long as she did not do anything to make matters worse.

“Your problem.” Shego made a meaningless hand gesture. “You and blondie seem to have hit a little patch. Well, not really little since I’m pretty sure a blind beggar lost in the dark would be able to see it,” the pale woman remarked, also not looking up from her magazine. She skimmed her magazine, much like she always did. Kim was shocked when she first found out that Shego rarely seriously read any of the magazines that she had. When Shego was seriously reading, she had thick books in her hands, which she read pretty quickly. Magazines were there to kill time and keep her from complaining about nothing ever being on television.

Tatsu shrugged, which did not do much good. Shego was not looking at her, after all. But, then, Shego showed she knew the mechanic rather well after knowing each other for almost a year.

“Shrugging isn’t going to work if I’m not looking, ass. Besides, you’re lying when you shrug,” the former villainess commented. “Now, tell me the truth. What the hell is going on with you two? Tired of being the poster couple for lesbians everywhere?” It was absolutely disgusting really.

“Poster couple?” Tatsu scoffed and rolled her eyes. Only one half of their couple was meant to be on a poster and she was damn sure it was not her. She wondered when she was going to be dropped for a better half, as she was almost certain such a thing would happen, sooner rather than later more than likely.

Shego flipped a page in her magazine. “You know what I mean. You two are like sickeningly sweet on each other without being obnoxious about it. You’re all about taking care of each other and not really rubbing it in people’s faces, but you don’t care who’s watching it happen. It’d probably be adorable if you weren’t you and blondie wasn’t blondie.”

Tatsu grunted and crumpled her magazine a little as she tightened her grip on it. “Not adorable.” Nothing about her was adorable… unless Trin said so. She was fine with that, but no one else could think she or anything she did was adorable. She was not a damn puppy.

“You haven’t been like that for a couple of weeks, though. Is it because you moved in? Not ready to live with your little blond bombshell?” Shego inquired as if she was teasing, but there was too much truth to the statement to be a tease and they both knew that. She assumed Tatsu and Trin were still navigating how to live together, as she recalled she and Kim had a few problems with cohabitation for the first few months. It was only natural. The “perfect” couple probably did not know how to deal with it, though. It would be funny if it did not seem like it was on the road to tragedy.

Tatsu chewed inside of her lip, which a new nervous tick. She was pretty sure she would suck at poker as she added her usual giveaway of running her hand through her hair. Shego sighed and shook her head. Tatsu looked away. _Yeah, I’d suck at poker_.

“What’s wrong?” the green-skinned woman asked again, some concern sneaking into her voice. She could not help it since she had known Tatsu for so long and, hell, she liked Tatsu. They were similar in being outsiders to this madness that was the Possible sisters mixed with Shin. But, Tatsu was tough, knew her stuff, did not take any mess from people, and had their backs. There were definitely worse people to like, and Shego had liked them.

“Do you ever wonder why the hell Kim is with you?” Tatsu suddenly asked, tossing her magazine aside. Her eyes implored Shego for a response, which the former thief noticed as she glanced up from her magazine.

“Not usually, no.” It was the truth. “I’m damned sexy, after all, and a super-powered badass. We don’t really have the time of day for me to go into why I know I’m a fine catch. Is that what’s wrong with you? You’ve been wondering why the hell blondie’s with you? If so, you’re as stupid as most people assume.”

There were several beats of silence until ice blue eyes glanced away. “I am…” the mechanic concurred. “I am as stupid as everyone thinks.” It was one of the many reasons she would eventually lose Trin. She was certain of that.

Shego did not seem to like that response… or her magazine bored because she tossed the periodical at Tatsu. She nailed the mechanic right in the forehead. Tatsu snarled and shot Shego a dirty look as the magazine fluttered to the floor, papers flapping as it did so.

“Don’t try that, you idiot. People say mean shit all the time. Hell, I still accidentally do that with Kimmie and vise versa, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. You got an inferiority complex now? Please don’t make me have to say something like ‘get off the cross, we need the wood.’ So, stop being an idiot,” Shego snorted. One of the cool things about Tatsu was not having to deal with emotional stuff.

“Do you think I should move in with Trin?” Tatsu asked out of the blue. She seemed to be having a lot of random moments right now, but she needed answers and she did not know where to get them. Shego seemed to be as good a source as any other. In fact, she might have been the only source Tatsu had. It was not like she could ask Kim or Shin about these things. She did not have any friends or family beyond this very small group.

Shego blinked and wondered where that question came from. She thought that might explain the tension between the couple. It was possible Tatsu was contemplating living with Trin and was not sure how to approach the subject or maybe Trin was hinting to Tatsu moving in and Tatsu did not know what she should answer or maybe Tatsu did not know how to phrase her answer in a way that did not offend her girlfriend.

“I don’t know about that. It’s your call. You move in with her, don’t you have to get a job out here?” Shego asked. That was probably Tatsu’s biggest challenge. She had a decent career in Middleton. She would have to leave that all behind and start over if she moved in with Trin. Shego had a similar problem, but she had been tired of Drakken and had a healthy scare to let her know what Kim meant to her. Well, Tatsu had a couple of scares with Trin, so maybe it was the same thing.

Tatsu nodded. “I’ve thought about it. I closed my garage.” She had neglected to mention that fact to her girlfriend. She was not sure how Trin would react to the news and she was too afraid to find out. She had brought everything of value with her to the apartment and she was scared to unpack it lest Trin figure it all out and then break up with her once she figured out how useless Tatsu was.

“For the summer? That makes sense since you’re going to be here.”

“No.”

Shego gawked at her for a long moment. “For good?” That was bold, but again, she should have expected it. She had done the same.

Tatsu nodded again. She had closed up the doors to her work and home forever to come stay with Trin for the summer. She had no clue what she was going to do when Shin came back and when the fall semester started. All she could think was that she screwed up. _I overplayed my hand_.

“I’m trying…” Tatsu muttered and trailed off. She was not even sure what she was attempting to say. Everything was muddled and wrong.

“You don’t have to try too hard, Tats. You already got the girl and the girl adores the hell out of you. Anybody can see that. Be cool,” Shego told the younger woman. She would hate to see Tatsu try too hard and manage to push Trin away, even though she doubted that was possible. She was serious when she said they were sickeningly sweet.

Tatsu nodded, but it was only to end the conversation. Lately, she did not feel like she “got the girl.” She was sure she did not deserve the girl, but she was trying. She was trying so hard, but still quite certain she was screwing up. She was always screwing up, like her father used to tell her. She was starting to feel sure she was going to be single before the year was out. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Trin, is everything all right between you and Tatsu?” Kim asked in a low voice with a little wrinkle in between her eyebrows. The sisters were in Trin’s car, traveling to pick up their cousin. Trin drove, more for a distraction than any other reason because she had no problem with letting Kim drive her car.

“Yes. Why would you ask that?” Trin countered in her usual bored tone, betraying nothing going on in her mind. Internally, she could not believe her little sister figured out something was not right between her and Tatsu already. _Was it that obvious? How bad are things if it’s so easy to tell something’s wrong? _

“I don’t know. Lately, it just seems a little tense between you two. Maybe it’s nothing. I mean, this is really your first time cohabiting with each other. Well, for you, actually with anyone.”

Trin shrugged a little. “For both me and her.”

Kim nodded. “Maybe I need to get used to seeing you live together or you two need to get used to living together,” the redhead reasoned. It could be that she misinterpreted what was happening with her sister and Tatsu. For her, those possibilities were logical things, but something told her that those were not it. Something was wrong between her sister and Tatsu and she could only hope they worked it out soon. After all, Tatsu made her sister very happy and she wanted that to continue. Tatsu was very good for Trin.

“Sounds logical. It’s probably a little of both,” Trin replied. She hoped things were coming from the fact that she and Tatsu needed to get used to living together, but she was certain it was not that. Things were slightly tense before that, but now it bordered on unbearable. It was already palpable if Kim could tell something was up, even though she tried to cover.

Trin had not even been able to put her plan into action of trying to interact more with Tatsu to see if that would help. After Kim reminded her about Joss, she spent her time preparing Shin’s room for their cousin when she had the time. She was not sure what she would do once Joss was in the apartment. She could not see the teen making things easier between her and Tatsu. _I have to do something, though_.

The conversation was dropped in favor of talking about how classes were going. The summer session had started and Trin wanted to make sure Kim was fine with the pace, especially since she was already behind if her actions at breakfast yesterday meant anything. Despite the fact that she often crammed, Kim explained she was all right with everything and had to figure out how to balance her hero work with her summer school work. Trin had no doubt Kim would do it quickly.

“I’ve talked to my professors about it, too. They’re willing to work with me,” Kim said.

Trin nodded. “That’s good. You should always keep an open dialogue with your professors. They tend to be more understanding than high school teachers.” That had been her experience anyway, but that could have been because no one in Middleton had a desire to understand her.

“That’s been my experience so far.” Kim was not sure why her high school teachers had always given her a hard time about the hero thing, but her professors so far were better with it. Some gave her more grief than others, but she felt like she would be able to handle it.

They moved on from school and spoke about how they thought Joss would do in the summer program. They both expressed pride she was admitted to the program in the first place. The program was for the cream of the crop, not just nationally, but internationally. A student had to have exceptional grades throughout her school career and also have a good balance of extracurricular activities to be considered. Tens of thousands applied, but only three hundred high school students were accepted.

“Joss must be getting some spanking grades,” Kim commented.

“She’s probably on the road of being valedictorian of her class to get into this program. I mean, she’s pretty much going to be a college student for the summer and on the dime of one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning,” Trin added, sounding very close to impressed, even though she expected no less from a Possible.

“Not too much of a college student, right?” The redhead did not want Joss acting like the few students in school that seemed to think the campus was just a large club. She also did not want Joss to burn herself out like other students on their campus. School could be cutthroat as well, which Kim did not want for their cousin. Yes, Joss hated her, but she still loved her little cousin and wanted the best for her.

“Of course not, Mini-me. The program is highly monitored. It wouldn’t look good for the school if the minors on campus had wild parties or spoke of getting drunk or worse while on campus. It also wouldn’t look good for them if the students were having breakdowns due to the workload.”

“That’s true. And, we’ll make sure she won’t get overwhelmed with anything, right? I mean, you know about the kids going to have breakdowns at the back of the library, right?”

“Yes, I know all about the space students sometime go to cry. I’m also aware of the space they go to occasionally to fight. I, unfortunately, also know the space they go to in order to indulge in kinks. We won’t let that happen with Joss. We’ll take good care of her.” Trin might not be a fan of Joss’, but she was Slim’s daughter and that was enough for Trin.

Kim smiled. “Just making sure. I mean, Uncle Slim’s trusting us with his only daughter. I don’t want to let him down.”

“We won’t, Mini-me.” 

Kim nodded and took her sister’s word on it, like she always did. Besides, she reminded herself, she could do anything, and her sister could do more. They were definitely going to be fine.

When they arrived at the airport, Trin waited in the car while Kim went in as far as she was allowed to with security in order to catch Joss as soon as possible. She checked the monitors to make sure Joss’ flight got in on time and she found it did. Barely a minute after she did that, her Kimmunicator went off.

“What’s the sitch?” Kim answered the device.

“Hi, cousin. I’m picking up my luggage right now,” Joss informed the older female.

“All right. I’m standing right around that area,” the redhead answered. She started to crane her neck, looking for her cousin throughout the throng of people. Usually, she would have counted on Joss’ keen eye to spot her and then scream for her, but she had a feeling that would not happen today. Joss was not going to be enthusiastic to be in her company and her heart sank at that.

Kim sighed, thinking about how not too long ago, Joss would have basked in her presence. Now, it was not like she enjoyed any hero-worship coming her way. In fact, it really bothered her. It was just better than being hated for who she decided to love. She wondered if the way she felt now was the way Trin always felt concerning their extended family. The burning in her bones and knots in her stomach, wishing her so-called family would just accept her.

“Hey, cousin,” Joss said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere since Kim had been lost in her own head for a moment.

Kim blinked hard as she registered Joss stood before her. She took her younger cousin in automatically, noting how the girl was almost a foot away and not trying to step any closer. Her stance was defensive, as if she was ready to show her fight-or-flight instincts. Kim mentally sighed.

_Why’s she acting like this? Does she think I’m going to molest her? Yes, because we all know that incest and pedophilia are barely a step away after lesbianism_, Kim commented in her mind. The sad thing was she knew people actually thought like that. It hurt to know someone in her own family might think like that, especially considering how smart the Possibles were. She threw on a bright (and fake) smile. “Come on, Joss. Trin’s waiting and we can get you home and settled in.”

“It’s not home. I’m only staying there for the summer,” Joss corrected with a snotty attitude with a sneer on her face.

The redheaded hero rolled her eyes and walked off after that. She did not even bother to check and see if Joss was following her or inquire if the teen had all of her bags. The gnawing feeling in her gut intensified and felt like rabid dogs shredded her insides. She hoped this was not how Trin always felt when it came to their family because she did not see how her big sister could live with the feeling for so many years.

Joss had to break into a jog to keep up with Kim. She pulled one large suitcase and had a duffle-bag on her shoulder with a knapsack, which made it harder to keep up with Kim. She almost lost the redhead in the hustle of the airport as dozens of people rushed in between them with their own places to go.

“Kim, wait! You’re going too fast and I don’t know what Trin’s car looks like!” Joss called out, heart beating heavy in her chest. While she had no desire to be around her cousins, she had less of a desire being deserted at the airport with no idea how to get to Kim’s apartment building or even the school where she would be spending the summer.

Kim was tempted to keep walking, but she stopped. She did not have it in her to abandon Joss at the airport, especially after just talking about how she and her sister would take care of Joss. Joss caught up and they walked in silence to the outside of the airport, finding Trin arguing with a security guard. Kim decided to hurry up to the car before Trin decided to “joke” about having a bomb or something else to tweak the guard. Before Trin could get into trouble, Kim pushed her into the driver’s seat and assuring the guard they were leaving while Joss climbed into the backseat.

“Trin, are you trying to get arrested?” Kim inquired with a teasing smile as the older Possible pulled off.

“I was bored,” Trin answered as if that was an acceptable answer. “I see you picked up our cargo completely intact.” She glanced in the mirror to see Joss dialing a number on her cell phone.

“Yeah,” Kim said with a little frown marring her features. She almost made a snap about Joss’ attitude, but decided to leave it alone. She was not going to let Joss ruin her summer, she silently decided. That intense churning in her gut said otherwise, though.

The car ride was silent, except for Joss’ phone call, which lasted too long in the sisters’ opinions. It was fine when they could tell Joss was speaking with her father. It was clear he was offering her words of encouragement, for both the program and getting to know her cousins again. It was when her mother got on the phone that things became annoying.

“No, Mom, I’m not going to let them touch me…” Joss said, apparently not caring enough to lower her voice, even though Trin and Kim knew exactly who she referred to. “…Yes, Mom, I’ll be sure to lock the door at night. I’m not stupid — Ow!”

Joss suddenly slammed into the back of Kim’s chair as the car came to hard, sudden halt. Trin dared to look innocent as Joss glared at her while righting herself in her seat and Kim threw a scolding stare her way. Trin shrugged.

“There was a bird,” the blond lied, motioning slightly to the outside where the road was clear.

“If you flip the car, I’ll show you a bird all right,” Kim replied, trying to hold in snickers and failing horribly. She shook her fist for just a moment, which got a slight smile of amusement out of her sister.

“I see living with Shego’s doing something to your bantering skills. That was witty and profane,” Trin teased.

“No, it was clever and witty. You took it in a profane way. So, where’s your head at, dear sister?” the olive-eyed hero countered with an innocent grin. The sisters occupied themselves by going back and forth while Joss went back to speaking and complaining to her mother. It was going to be a long summer for all Possibles involved. 

-8-8-8-8-

“So, you think they’ll make it back from the airport, or just dump Joss off in a lake on the way?” Shego asked to break the silence that reigned over the apartment. She was still lounging on the couch. She hoped they got back soon, as she was hungry and bored.

“Wishing out loud?” Tatsu countered. She would not mind the latter, though. She was not sure she was up to dealing with someone who was obvious with her dislike of Trin, especially someone who had absolutely no reason to dislike Trin.

“I don’t really want her around. She’s just going to upset Kimmie. You should know what I mean. She’s just going to piss off blondie, too,” the older woman pointed out. The apartment was already tense. She did not want to deal with more discomfort, especially from someone who could not even drive yet.

Tatsu shrugged. “They agreed.”

Shego turned her mouth up. “That they did and so did we.” Well, technically, she was bribed, but she was proud Kim could even do that, so she accepted Joss would cramp their style for the summer.

Tatsu did not say anything. She agreed… yesterday. Shego probably had agreed the day the deal was hashed out. Was she slowly being phased out? She ran her hand through her wild hair and tugged on the ends. Shego noticed, but she did not say anything. _Yeah, Tatsu would suck at poker._

The sound of the key in the door got their attention. There were voices, one with a distinct accent, out in the hallway. So, apparently, the sisters had decided to not throw their cousin in a lake on the way home. _Well, there’s always tomorrow_.

“I don’t see why I have to stay here,” Joss huffed as the Possibles entered the apartment. Shego and Tatsu were in agreement with her there.

“We’ve gone over this, Joss. This is the only place with space for you and Trin would love your company,” Kim replied with a nervous smile.

_God, Pumpkin, your lying needs serious work_, Shego thought as she caught sight of her lover and the expression she tossed Joss. She would have to teach her girlfriend to do better, somehow. Maybe she could teach both Kim and Tatsu.

“Yeah, I’m sure Trin would,” Joss said snidely and the undercurrent of that line did not miss the sisters’ ears. Even if it did, the disgusted, accusing glare that accompanied it was so blatant a blind man would have seen it.

“If I were you, I’d worry about the lock-picking lesbian on the couch more than the blond lesbian that’s your cousin,” Trin remarked as she shut the door behind them, not caring that Joss was barely inside. She also did not care that was definitely the wrong thing to say to someone who already thought the worst of all of them.

Shego pepped up, sensing a game afoot. “Are you hinting there’s something in her suitcase worth stealing?” A cruel smile curled onto her face as she rubbed her hands together.

“More like something inside of her that she thinks is worth stealing,” Trin commented while rolling her eyes.

Shego hoped Joss understood what her blond nemesis referred to, so Shego could add to the horror she knew the teen had to feel. “Doesn’t sound too valuable to me, but I’m sure I could hock it for a couple of bucks.” She snickered and Trin offered her a shrug.

Joss bristled and gulped. Kim stepped in immediately. “Shego, cut it out! Trin, stop encouraging her… and, Shego, stop encouraging Trin!” Sometimes, she thought her girlfriend and her sister really needed to be enemies because they did worse things when they got along than when they were at each other’s throats. They were supposed to be mature adults, but there they were being amused with frightening a fourteen-year-old girl.

“Hey, when she’s throwing ‘em that easy, I gotta knock ‘em out of the park,” Shego said, smirking up a storm as she mimicked hitting a baseball, which was a little hard considering her position on the sofa.

“Anyway, Joss, I’ll show you the room you’ll stay in and I’ll give you the grand tour of the apartment,” Kim said. She was about to grab her cousin’s hand when she saw Joss flinch and step away. She bit back a frown, cutting the inside of her lip while she was at it. “Come on, this way,” the redhead said while motioning off to the left with a tense wave of her hand.

“Brat,” Shego spat when the cousins were out of earshot.

“Three months of her and all my school work. Baby, kill me now,” Trin requested as she flopped down in the armchair with Tatsu.

The mechanic only shook her head and grabbed onto Trin. They both sighed and rested against each other, both trying to commit the feeling to the memory of each and every cell that they had. They closed their eyes and hoped things would stay this way, at least for a little while.

-8-8-8-8-

“This is _his_ room, isn’t it?” Joss sneered as she looked around the clean room full of dark wooden furniture. There were a few posters on the wall of good-looking men. There were several items with Japanese writing on them around the place that Joss could not read.

“Yeah, this is Shin’s room. Trin cleaned it up pretty good for you. The linens and everything are clean. I’m actually shocked she didn’t buy a brand new mattress for you, but she flipped this one and put a topper on it just in case,” Kim answered, forcing out a bright smile. She was fairly certain if she continued smiling as she was, she would split her cheeks open, or the tension she felt would completely shatter the bones in her face.

Joss sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “There are probably all kinds of sick things in this room with the way he acts. Wish I coulda just stayed in a dorm.”

Kim growled, not liking her sister’s effort was not appreciated. “Listen, Joss, you’re going to be here all summer, so if I were you, I’d cut out this little pity party you’re throwing.”

“I ain’t throwing nothing. I wanted to stay in a dorm, but Daddy couldn’t afford it since you and your fake-sister messed up the ranch!” Joss countered.

“Slap her, Kimmie!” Shego called, letting the cousins know everyone could hear the little argument.

Kim trembled, wanting nothing more than to take Shego’s advice, but she did not. The fact that Shego suggested the slap let her know that was not the way to go. Besides, she was afraid she might not be able to stop once she started hitting her cousin. Instead, she stormed off, leaving Joss to the silence and the sweet scent of orange blossoms that coated Shin’s bedroom now.

“I can’t believe her!” Kim screamed as she flopped down on the couch next to Shego. “You’d think she’d show a little bit of gratitude! Instead, she’s accused us indirectly of being perverts, acting like we’re going to molest her, and looking down her nose at us! Not to mention, how dare she call Trin my fake sister! I don’t think I can take this for the whole summer.” She folded her arms across her chest to keep herself from breaking something.

“Princess, you should just ignore her, like blondie.” Shego motioned to Trin.

Looking at the older Possible, no one would guess she heard anything between Kim and Joss. She leaned against Tatsu and smiled like the cat who got the cream as Tatsu caressed her hip. Kim sighed and leaned into Shego, who wrapped her arms around Kim and held her close.

“Trin’s got this ignoring thing down,” Kim muttered.

“Well, maybe it’s time for you to take some lessons, so you don’t end up as the Heartbreak Kid. You know this is Joss’ problem to deal with, not yours. There’s nothing wrong with you, but there is something wrong with her. You can either work to change her mind while she’s here or you can ignore her. Either way, you shouldn’t take her shit to heart when she’s the one who’s fucked up,” Shego informed her lover.

“Wow, Shego, that might be the most insightful thing I ever heard come out of that filthy mouth of yours,” Trin remarked.

“You know what, I’ll tell you some other things that come with my mouth if you don’t shut the fuck up and let me have my moment,” the former villainess countered with a grin.

“Carry on,” Trin replied and focused her attention back on her girlfriend, running her fingers through Tatsu’s hair. She could not help wondering if Joss’ presence was going to make things worse between the two of them, even though things felt so nice right now. Joss might push Tatsu into going back to Middleton if her attitude persisted, Trin thought. Her stomach sank. She should have said “no” to her uncle, she now knew that.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Joss is kept awake by sounds in the night and then ladies all have breakfast together where Joss gets a few shocks.


	3. The Average Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu.

3: The Average Morning

The night was silent until the start of a prayer came. It came in the form of a whimper. Tatsu smiled softly to herself when she heard the small noise escape her lover. She shivered as if the whimper went from Trin into her, touching the core of her soul, and completing her. She never wanted anyone like she wanted Trin and doubted she ever would.

_So, I need to make every moment count,_ Tatsu thought as her hand went on a familiar mission. It was a mission she would never tire of, a mission she would like to take every night for the rest of her life, a mission she silently vowed to always do to the best of her ability. _If I could do this properly, she might keep me around a little longer_.

A tanned hand found its favorite companion underneath the pink tank-top Trin wore to bed. Trin pushed herself into the probing hand while tilting her head as she felt an adoring tongue on her neck. Trin’s chest began to rise and fall at a rapid pace, which caused the lips against her neck to smile more. Panting was always a sign of what was to come next.

The pink tank-top was quickly discarded and violently flung to the floor, feeling Tatsu’s wrath for blocking her from her lover. The tank-top itself was an insult to an already sore point. Trin covered up, as if she did not want Tatsu, as if she did not want what Tatsu offered, as if she would not let Tatsu worship her. Thankfully, that turned out to be false, as Trin kissed her with the same want and desire as always when they went to bed. As soon as that irksome piece of cloth was out of the way, Tatsu attached herself to an inviting pink pearl that seemed to call out for her. Trin’s back arched like a taut bow, silently begging for more.

“Oh, god!” 

Tatsu was about to grin like the cat who got the cream, but then she felt the body underneath her tense. The mechanic did not know what to make of that because it never happened before. Her stomach dropped into her feet_. Did I do something wrong? Come on, this is the one thing I’m good at with her! _Tatsu did not know what she would do if she could not even properly demonstrate her devotion to Trin.

For the first time, Trin actually heard her words, heard how loud she was. Shocked, she shot up from the bed and gently shoved Tatsu from her. The mechanic’s face fell so far it was amazing her jaw did not end up on the floor beneath them.

“Wait, baby, we can’t,” Trin said while trying to catch her breath. Her body hummed and burned for her love, but her conscience would not let her give in. 

“We can’t?” Tatsu echoed in the most baffled voice. Ice blue eyes were laced with confusion, hurt, and mounting fear. Her heart flew into a panic, beating so hard she could feel it in her throat. _Dear God, am I so useless now I can’t even please my blond bombshell? Oh, god, why would she want me around then? She’s not going to want me at this rate! _Her breathing picked up at the thought and she felt like she could not get enough air. Breathing was impossible. Living would be impossible without Trin.

“No, baby, we can’t. We have company and you know how loud I am,” Trin pointed out. She knew she carried well over to Shin’s room too considering how many morning she woke up to him quoting just what the hell she said while being intimate.

“Company?” Tatsu could not believe it. They stopped for Joss? Joss, who had been a bratty, pain-in-the-ass since she arrived? _No, it can’t be that_, Tatsu thought.

The mechanic was seized by the realization Trin was using Joss as an excuse. After all, Trin did not really care about her cousin, having said as much more than once that day alone. Joss was a convenient way to get out of making love, if it could even be called that considering Trin did not seem to want to do it with her. With that thought, Tatsu’s stomach twisted and turned. She had to fight back the urge to throw up right then and there.

_She doesn’t wanna make love? She doesn’t want me to touch her? Was she faking all those other nights since I’ve been here? Probably. I was just too stupid to notice. I can’t protect her. I can’t provide for her. Fuck, I can’t even pleasure her_, Tatsu silently lamented. She could hear echoes of her father calling her stupid. She was too stupid to see it, but she knew what was coming. _I can’t stop it if I can’t do anything right_.

“Baby?” Trin placed her hands on Tatsu’s broad shoulders, shaking her a little.

Tatsu blinked hard and faced her girlfriend. “Huh?”

“Look, I’m loud, but you’re not. So, how about I take care of you tonight?” Trin was already lifting off Tatsu’s black sports’ bra. The graduate student’s mouth watered and her hands itched in anticipation. The thought of touching her love once more was almost too much for her mind to comprehend. It had been much too long. She _needed_ this.

“Huh?” Tatsu did not realize what was going on until her bra was keeping Trin’s tank-top company. She then grabbed Trin’s wrists, making sure to be gentle since her girlfriend bruised easily, to keep the blond from going any further. _I can’t let her do everything fucking thing. How worthless is that?_

“Baby?” Trin asked, swallowing down the hurt in her throat. It felt like lead in her stomach, hot, burning lead that threatened to scorch everything inside of her, everything that gave the world a bit of a shine. Seriously, did Tatsu still not want to be touched? _Am I so repulsive? Does the idea of me touching her turn her off so much? What am I going to do?_

“It’s okay. Let’s just go to sleep,” Tatsu replied in a low tone, eyes looking away. The last thing she wanted to do was take anything more from Trin. She needed to stop taking and start giving if she was going to keep her love, she told herself. _But, how?_

“You want to go sleep?” the blond asked in a puzzled voice, her pale brow wrinkled with confusion. Hardly a minute ago Tatsu had been set to devour her and now she just wanted to sleep? _What the hell? _What was going on and how the hell could she stop it?

“Yeah. I wanna hold you,” the mechanic admitted, eyes focused on the bed sheet. She wanted to show she could be there for Trin without needing anything that seemed excessive. She could be there and offer something, even if it was just a pair of arms, arms she now believed to be useless since they could not protect her lover.

Trin could not speak, her throat burned once again. She could not trust her voice. She just nodded her consent and laid back down. Tatsu joined her and wrapped her arms around the lithe, pale body of her love. It felt different to both of them, rigid and strange, but neither of them said anything. It had not felt like this, even when they first went to bed together. Even clouded by each other’s familiar scent, things seemed off. They tried their best to fall asleep, but they were plagued by doubts and thoughts they wished would go away.

-8-8-8-8-

Joss was on the bed, _her_ bed for the summer, wide awake and staring at the ceiling in sheer terror. Her heart finally calmed down after hearing a close scream that sounded very much like someone calling out to God. Her eyes had peered at the door, which was locked with a few things piled against it, for a long minute before she had fallen back against her pillow to now watch her ceiling. The air was still and quiet now.

She did not know what to expect staying with Trin. At least if she had been able to stay with Kim, she would have known that nothing would happen to her. Sure, Kim was queer, but deep down, she knew Kim was still Kim. Kim was a hero and did good things. Kim would never hurt someone who did not deserve it. The same could not be said with Trin because she really had no clue who Trin was. Well, no, she had some clue.

Her Mama told her all about Trin. The blond was adopted and more than likely the offspring of crazed drug addicts. Her mother claimed to know this from health issues Trin had when she was younger. Her mother also told her Uncle James found Trin in a mall and no normal person abandoned a child in a mall, unless something was wrong with both the person and child. James used to call Slim all the time to update Slim as to what was going on with his favorite blond niece and Slim would share the news, not realizing at first that his family did not share his sentiments about Trin. According to her Mama, Trin was practically an addict herself.

Now, Joss had never seen any evidence of Trin being addicted to anything, but she had no reason to doubt her mother. Sometimes, when her father laughed about some antic he was told about Trin, her mother would remark it was proof she was on drugs. Joss assumed that was true. Drugs more than likely influenced Trin’s behavior and explained why the Possible family did not like her.

Then there were the tales of Trin being wild and evil. There were talks about fights at school, stories from when Trin was young, like in kindergarten. Who got into fights in kindergarten? Joss heard Trin poisoned people, which made sense when she learned Trin was into chemistry. But, there were reasons for her to believe the things her family said.

Joss had seen the wild part in Shin and figured if Trin hung out with someone as wild as the insane half-Japanese boy then she had to be wild, too. The evil part was not a stretch because it seemed like looking into her eyes gave a good view of Hell. Her cold demeanor and condescending attitude also pushed the notion that she had to be evil.

Adding to Joss’ perceived problems, not only did she have to worry about the blond Possible, but there was also Tatsu, whom she knew absolutely nothing about. At least with Trin, she could assure herself that the graduate student would not hurt her because Kim trusted Trin, her father trusted Trin, and her Uncle James trusted Trin. So, there might be something to Trin that she could not see, but was there for so many smart people to trust her. But, Tatsu was an unknown element with no real ties to the family other than the fact that she was Trin’s gay lover. Joss did not like the look of the stranger or the few facts she knew about the mechanic.

Tatsu was a high-school dropout, an idiot as far as Joss was concerned; after all, Possibles never dropped out of high school. In fact, as far as Joss knew, only lowlifes and morons — in her opinion — dropped out of school. She figured Tatsu fell into both of those categories.

Tatsu just had a rough, gang-member-type look to her. If asked to describe that look, Joss would not really be sure where to start. There was something about Tatsu that made Joss swear the mechanic was from the streets and from the very wrong side of the tracks. She would not be surprised if the police wanted Tatsu for any number of crimes. She was willing to bet the mechanic had a rap sheet a mile long.

Even the way that Tatsu spoke, the whispered mumble that sometimes needed translating, indicated low intelligence and poor education, and those things equaled danger in Joss’ mind. Somehow, the way Tatsu talked made it seem like she was probably a criminal, like bad guys had an accent and Tatsu used it. Something just was not right with Tatsu and Joss really did not want to find out what it was.

For all she knew, Tatsu would sneak in sometime at night and do just about anything. She did not know what to expect from “that sort of person.” She was not totally sure what she meant by that phrase, but she did not trust Tatsu because she did not know what to expect of the woman with a frightening aura, a woman who just gave off bad vibes in Joss’ opinion.

Still, for all her bad thoughts and mistrust, the night was calm. Quiet and dark. No matter how hard she listened, no noise came from the other room or outside her room. There was no movement around her, not even enough for her to imagine something. Every now and then, she took a long blink, drifted away for a second, and shook it away. She wanted to stay alert, just in case.

Eventually, youthful eyes closed from plain exhaustion and excitement from the day. Despite everything that happened, Joss was very eager about her trip. She could not wait to start her summer program and had thought about it for not only the whole plane right, but the whole week prior. All of her energy was spent long before she arrived, but she got a charge from the anxiety that coursed through her from being around her cousins and their girlfriends. It was all gone now, drained from her, as she had a fairly peaceful sleep.

-8-8-8-8-

The thing that caused Joss’ young body to stir was a delightful smell in the air. Without permission from her brain, her body rose and stumbled to the door. Only when she was at the door did Joss realize she was awake and she was hungry. Somewhere in the back of her foggy mind, she recalled she had not eaten since yesterday morning. Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed her belly, hoping to soothe it until she could get to whatever that heavenly aroma was. She had to move a stack of random items out of the doorway in order to get out of the room.

She wandered out into the living room, scratching her head and causing her auburn hair to go off in even wilder directions. Her pajamas clung to her, showing she actually had on layers of clothing. She had on three different layers of pajamas, despite the summer heat. It was a safety issue.

Joss was knocked out of her morning haze when she entered the dining room and her eyes went wide. The sight of Shego reading the morning paper greeted her and she was not sure what to make of it. What should she do? _Say “good morning” or retreat back into the room?_ She did not get a chance to make the decision when two pair of green eyes locked on with hers.

“Good morning, Joss,” Kim greeted her cousin. She sat next to Shego, as she did every morning. Kim did not bother to smile. It was too early in the morning to be fake, but it was early enough to be civil. “Have a seat.” The redhead motioned to the chair that would put Joss opposite of Shego.

Joss gulped, but she did as she was told. Shego did not say anything to her and went back to reading her paper. Shego had already decided she was going to ignore the annoying Montana native for the summer. It would make her life easier, as her girlfriend was less likely to yell at her. Despite some of the things she said and did, Shego lived a much happier life when Kim was not angry with her.

Kim sighed, but she did not break eye contact with her cousin. Maybe she needed to be a little fake to try to help Joss adjust. It could make things better for all of them. She forced out a smile for the younger Possible and then decided to try to start a conversation.

“Um… Joss, how do you like your omelets?” the redhead inquired. Breakfast seemed like a safe enough topic, she thought.

“Why?” Joss countered defensively, thinking Kim was using some kind of “queer code” on her. She retreated in her seat and craned an eyebrow, watching Kim carefully.

“That’s what Trin’s making for breakfast. Omelets and home fries. She’ll make the omelet special for you if she knows what you like,” Kim explained, trying to keep her temper even and not scowl at Joss. She reminded herself that her cousin had misconceptions about homosexuals and she needed to be patient with her. It did not help she needed Joss to get comfortable about the reformed villainess Shego and Tatsu was a complete stranger to the young teen. She did not even bother considering the problems Joss had with Trin. It was going to be a long summer.

“Like Hell she will!” Shego snorted from behind the paper. She glanced into the kitchen where Trin was at the stove, not even bothering to look in on the conversation.

“Trin cooks?” Joss muttered, blinking hard a few times as her forehead wrinkled. She wanted to turn around and see, but she wanted to keep an eye on Shego, in case the green-skinned woman tried something. Still, the temptation was too great because as far as she knew Trin was the very definition of lazy and did not know anything about being a kitchen. No one in the Possible family ever mentioned Trin cooking.

The young teen could not help herself and got up to go see for herself if it was her blond cousin in the kitchen. Dark green eyes looked like they were ready to roll around on the floor as they caught sight of Trin working the stove as if it was a canvas and she was a master painter.

“Since when do you cook?” Joss demanded to know, sounding angry and amazed at the same time. She even had the nerve to glare at the graduate student. She had never seen Trin in the kitchen, let alone cooking before. Trin did not even do the dishes when she visited the Lazy C ranch!

“Since I don’t like to starve to death,” the older Possible retorted with a snort. Her voice was as bland as always and she kept her eyes on her pan rather than sparing her cousin a glance.

“Trin, be nice,” Kim called to her sister, hoping Trin remembered they were supposed to be bonding with their cousin.

An aggravated exhale came from the pale woman. She gritted her teeth together and had to get her mind set for the next thing to come out of her mouth. It took a moment, as Joss continuing to glare at her did not help. “Joss, what would you like in your omelet?” Somehow, she managed to say it without gritting her teeth.

Shego almost fell out of her chair, but caught herself. She started looking over her paper, wanting to see if Kim was glaring at Trin or something. _Maybe Kim’s using witchcraft to get the impossible Possible to try being likeable so quickly_. It did not look like Kim was doing any magic, but that was really the only way to explain why Trin gave in without even an annoyed word. _Well, I can’t blame Trin. Sometimes, Kim has magic over me, too_.

“Joss, omelet?” Trin grunted when an answer was not given to her immediately.

“Oh!” Joss squeaked as her brain managed to turn back on. “Um… cheese is good.”

“What kind?” Trin pressed. “I have American, cheddar, Swiss, and pepper jack.” 

“Cheddar… I guess.”

“Anything else? There’s ham, bacon—” Trin did not get a chance to get through the rest.

“Bacon!” Joss added. 

Trin continued on. “Peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach—”

Kim cut in after seeing her cousin’s face twist. “I think you’re good with just the cheese, Trin.”

Trin nodded to show she got the order and she was thankful Joss went to sit back down rather than try to observe. The auburn-haired teen scanned as much of the apartment as she could see while she was at the table. She did not have anything better to do and Kim was now too wrapped up in school work to try starting conversation.

Joss had never been to Trin’s home before and she silently admitted it was nothing like she thought it would be. She was not sure what she expected. Maybe rabid dogs frothing at the mouth, a moat with snarling crocodiles, bloodied weapons, illegal substances, female sex-slaves chained to the walls crying to go home, and dead animals lying about the floor. Or the reverse side, a sterile, white room with nothing on the walls, like a sanitarium. To Joss, those things would have fit what she knew about her blond cousin, but the apartment was nothing like that.

In fact, Joss thought the place seemed pretty homey. It was almost warm and near comforting, something she never associated with her cousin or her cousin’s “queer boyfriend.” She dared to consider they had somehow stolen the apartment. It could not possibly to be their home.

_They probably killed and ate the owners_, Joss thought. And when she spotted the game console in the living room, she amended that thought. _And the owners’ kids_. It made more sense than Trin and Shin being able to make a real home.

Joss’ was knocked out of her thoughts as Tatsu came out of nowhere. Tatsu flopped down with a soft grunt into the chair that was closest to Joss. The mechanic did not even take notice of Joss, but the young teen sat up straight as a rod and watched Tatsu as if she expected the mechanic to pull a gun on her.

“You look like someone who didn’t have sex last night,” Shego commented as she peered over her paper to see Tatsu staring at the table, like she was waiting for it to solve the world’s problems.

Tatsu grunted, but Trin came to her lover’s defense. “You’re an expert on that look, aren’t you, Shego?” the graduate student remarked.

“Fuck you, blondie!” the green-skinned woman barked, shaking her fist in the direction of the kitchen, as if that was going to scare Trin.

“I wouldn’t want to be the one to remove the look you love so much,” Trin continued, smiling ever so slightly as she watched the omelet in her pan.

“That’s what I got your little sister for,” Shego had the nerve to say and dared to stick her tongue out at Trin.

“What was that?” Trin demanded as she picked up a nearby knife. She would cut Shego if the former sidekick dared to even suggest her sister was anything less than an equal to be treasured and valued rather than treated like a piece of ass.

Joss gulped when she saw the blond go for the weapon and wondered if the two pale women were going to slaughter the lot of them. She tried not to think of what they might do to her dead body, but terrifying images floated through her mind. All the color drained from her face.

“I said you little sister—” Shego was cut off as she was hit in the head with an orange from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. Knowing who the culprit was, Shego immediately turned to her traitorous girlfriend. “Whose side are you on?” Emerald eyes glared at Kim.

“Mine! The side that doesn’t want my sister to have an aneurism while cooking breakfast and the side that would like to see my girlfriend live to see another day,” Kim replied and she picked up some more ammunition. “And if you have anything to say against it, this means war.” She spun the orange in her index finger.

Shego, picking her battles wisely, decided to go back to her paper. Kim went back to work and Tatsu continued looking miserable. Joss was on edge for almost a minute before she realized it was over. Shego and Trin were not going to fight to the death and no one was going to die before breakfast was served. Kim had saved the morning, the young teen thought. _Well, she is a hero_.

Before Joss could try to make heads or tails of what happened, Trin served everyone. Dark green eyes blinked as a cheddar cheese and bacon omelet was placed in front of her. It was a little brown, but mostly yellow with cheese oozing from the edges. It was sliced, ready to be eaten by the forkful, and looking exactly how an omelet should. It was like the perfect omelet. _Trin just served the perfect omelet? What the heck?_

Joss stared at the food, the omelet and seasoned home fries piled high, for a moment, completely shocked and amazed. She then considered it probably did not taste very good. She was willing to bet Trin was a horrible cook, just like she was a horrible person. Her thoughts were interrupted by Shego’s voice.

“Hey, you didn’t put those little fucking whatever-the-hell-they-are in here, did you?” Shego demanded as she looked down at her food with narrowed eyes, like she thought it would kill her.

“You know what, Shego, when you start cooking, you can add whatever the hell you want to anything or leave out whatever the hell you want. Until that moment, though, shut the hell about things. Be happy I didn’t put cyanide or strychnine in it,” Trin countered.

At the naming of deadly poisons and the suspicious look on Shego’s face, Joss gulped and stared down at her food with more intensity than ever before. Were there any poisons laced in her food? She figured why not since Trin was a monster. Maybe Trin would poison the food. Sure, not enough to kill her, as that would be hard to explain to her father, but enough to make her seriously ill, enough to cause her pain and torment. The thought caused her stomach to drop into her feet and she turned a little green, but no one noticed.

“You didn’t put those in it? You must be going soft,” Shego teased with half-smirk on her face. “You keep this up and I might get the feeling you like me.”

“The hell I do. Just because I didn’t put those in it doesn’t mean I didn’t put a little something extra in your complicated little omelet,” Trin remarked with a glint in her eyes that did make Shego pause in the middle of a bite.

“Don’t make me have to ruin the Possible family by killing the eldest child because she plays too much,” the former villain commented while pointing her fork at the blond. They went back and forth just enough for her to believe Trin might tamper with her food, even though it had never happened. “Messing with food is a step too far.” She felt like it was necessary to establish that as a rule, just in case.

Trin rolled her eyes as she took her seat, next to Tatsu. The mechanic ate quietly, not paying anyone any mind. She glanced to the side when she felt Trin’s eyes on her. She glanced over and wondered why her lover watched her so intently.

“Um… it’s good,” Tatsu offered, thinking Trin might be curious as to what she thought of the food, especially since it seemed to be something new. Usually, she had a plain cheese omelet, but today, Trin had given her something with two types of cheese, tomatoes, bacon bits, and spinach, which she barely recognized. It was very tasty, though.

“I’m glad,” Trin said with a smile. She leaned in a little, as if in anticipation. Tatsu glanced at her and then shoved more omelet in her mouth.

Shego and Kim watched the scene, but they did not comment. They glanced at each other, silently asking the same question. Shego shrugged. It was not her problem, so she was not about to get involved. Kim glared at her lover because of the move. Shego decided not to press her luck and just dug into her food, while making sure to watch out for anything suspicious since she doubted Trin was below putting something in her food to mess with her.

Joss was surprised that despite all of the posturing and barking, breakfast was relatively normal. Shego and Trin went back and forth, but nothing progressed further than words and pointing silverware. They were also quickly silenced by Kim if one of them seemed like they were going too far. The young teen could hardly believe her eyes.

_I’da thought Trin would hurt anybody for saying less than the things Shego said to her_, Joss thought as she absently began to eat her food. Everything was so extraordinary she forgot she was worried about the food in the first place.

When the flavor of the omelet reached Joss’ brain, she stopped and realized what she was doing. She paused for a moment, waiting to feel faint or ill, but found nothing but delicious cheese and eggs. She bravely went in for another bite.

_Wow, Trin actually cooks really good_, Joss’ mind commented without her permission. Her tongue concurred and she tried to savor each burst of flavor. _Where did Trin learn to cook like this?_

Kim smiled when she noticed her cousin going to town on the omelet. She turned her eyes to Trin, who shrugged indifferently. After all, Kim was the optimistic one and Trin knew it would take a lot more than an omelet to turn an opinion. Besides, Trin had other things on her mind beyond their cousin. Her eyes drifted back to Tatsu, who stayed silent and buried in her plate.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim tries to help Joss out, but Joss is not willing to accept it. Shego has a talk with Tatsu about her behavior of late.


	4. The Know-Nothings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. Well, actually, Trin and Tatsu are my characters, but the rest of them are Disney’s.

4: The Know-Nothings

With breakfast done, everyone cleared away their dishes, putting them in the sink for someone to get later on. Before Joss could escape back into Shin’s room, Kim halted her by trying to start a friendly conversation. Everyone else pretended to go about their business, their business not having them stray too far from the dining room, just in case.

“Joss, you have orientation today, right?” Kim asked, even though she knew the answer to that.

“Yeah,” Joss answered, sounding more like her response was a question than anything else. Her eyes seemed to ask why the hell her cousin was bothering her and her body language, leaning away from the hero, showed she was ready to bolt for her room.

“I’ll drive you. I have to go to the school, anyway,” the redhead offered with a smile. Maybe if she could keep everything calm, Joss would remember she was not the enemy. She would like that and she wanted to believe Joss would like that, too.

Despite the fact that it had been a relatively normal morning, Joss still looked apprehensive. She leaned back a little more, as if she was going to run off at that very moment, and stared at her shoes. The elder cousin could not help sighing because she could see the answer coming a mile away.

“I’d rather just go by myself. Get there on my own,” Joss replied with a forced smile.

Kim sighed again. She thought they — meaning she, Shego, Trin, and Tatsu — showed they were decent people so far. Sure, the latter three had been standoffish, but that was how they always were. No one had made an attempt to molest Joss, no one had behaved inappropriately in front of Joss, no one had said anything even mildly insulting to Joss, and as far as Kim knew Joss did not hear anything inappropriate since Tatsu and Trin did not seem to get intimate last night. So, Kim could not figure out why Joss acted like they were going to drink her blood any second.

Trin decided to jump in before her little sister frustrated herself to the point of madness. “Joss, the campus is huge, as is the city. You’ll get lost by yourself trying to get there and being there if you ever make it. Let Kim take you since she has to go up there, anyway,” the blond ordered. She did not have to worry about class since it was the weekend, but she had things she needed to get to. “Let her help you find your way around while she has the time.”

“I can go by myself. I need to learn the city and the campus, anyway,” the auburn-haired girl argued.

“You can learn it with a guide. Kim’s going to take you,” Trin stated, like her word was law. The last thing they needed was for Joss to get lost in the city. They would then have to waste time going to look for her, as it was not like they could just chalk it up to fate and tell their uncle that.

“What do you care if I get lost?” Joss huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

“At this point, I don’t give much of a damn about you getting lost,” Trin started and there was more to her rebuttal, but Kim cut in.

“Ah! What Trin means to say is that she cares about you, but not the way you’re acting right now!” the hero chimed in, trying to save the day as usual.

Trin scoffed. “What I meant to say was that if Kim’s bothering to take time out of her life to show you around, you’re being foolish and pigheaded to pass it up. My reason for saying anything, though, is because I don’t want you to give Kim a hard time for trying to be nice and reasonable with you, not that you’ve done anything to deserve it. I’d also rather not have to explain to your father that you wound up lost in the city from stubbornness. So, this is much more about Kim and your father than it is about you,” she commented in her usual manner.

Joss scowled at her eldest cousin and tried glaring at her. The blond scoffed and went about her business, not feeling the youngster was even worth her glare. Joss’ forehead wrinkled with anger and she continued glaring at Trin’s back, like that would somehow hurt Trin.

“Joss, just let me take you. I can show you around before I have to go talk with one of my professors. It’ll give you a leg up on everyone else. Hell, it might help you make friends because you can show them around,” Kim argued. She was on the verge of pleading because the campus was huge like her sister said, as was the city, but there were also parts of the city that were just plain bad and she wanted to make sure Joss stayed away from those parts.

“Why do you need to see a professor?” Trin inquired, interest in the conversation back as she turned to eye her little sister. It was becoming more and more obvious she would have to keep track of Kim and keep on her about her schoolwork. It was more for her than for Kim and she knew that, but it was still something she would do.

Kim grinned nervously. “Um… well… I…”

“Hero business. Ducked out of class and missed a quiz earlier in the week,” Shego rattled off her girlfriend’s offensives with a delighted smile on her face. “Get her, Trin.” She wanted Kim to take her schoolwork a little more seriously and they had discussed it with Kim blowing her off, assuring her that Kim knew what she was doing. She had done it all through high school and graduated with a perfect GPA and honors. Shego tried to explain college, especially the one Kim went to, was not Middleton High.

“Damn it, Kimmie! We’ve talked about how condensed these summer courses are. You can’t just leave and miss a quiz for something. This could be the difference between an A and a B in the class,” the blond scholar pointed out. And they did not do B’s.

“I know, but it was important. I’ll never do it again. I know how much my education is worth,” Kim promised. She also knew that Trin and Shego would pester her to death if she messed up in school.

Shego scoffed. “Sometimes, you don’t act like it. You’d think you’re going to have a career in being in a hero or something.”

Kim frowned at her girlfriend. “I’m responsible in what I do. I spoke to the professor. I’m going in to speak with him again to find out how to make up for the quiz. I’ve got this.”

“No one is doubting your responsibility,” Trin replied.

“But, there’s going to come a point where you can’t just dip out of class and hope for the best. What happens when you’ve done that so much during the class the professor’s sick of it? What then?” Shego pressed the matter.

Kim folded her arms across her chest. “I’ll handle it. I’ve been handling it. I’ve got this. You two should stop worrying.”

Shego sucked her teeth. “We should stop worrying.” She pointed to herself and then to Trin. Trin scowled at Kim, eyes managing to scold her better than her words.

Kim huffed and threw her hands up. “You two are so impossible!”

Shego shook her head. “We’re impossible.”

“And stop doing that. You know it’s annoying,” Kim snapped. Shego made a face and shrugged.

Once again, Joss found herself not sure what to make of the scene in the apartment, which had happened quite a few times that morning. Her first instinct was to defend Kim. Kim had missed school to save the world, which was more than noble in her opinion. But, those words died on her tongue, not because she did not like Kim anymore, but because she understood why Trin was angry.

Trin was upset with Kim treating her education so lightly, which Joss thought was a good point. But, she could not bring herself to side with Trin, not someone who she was so sure was evil and she could not bring herself to defend to Kim since she thought there was something wrong with her since Kim was “queer.” In the end, her mind could not figure out what to do and so she remained silent.

It did not help matters to see Shego weighing in on the matter. Joss was flabbergasted to witness Shego caring about Kim’s education. It was like Shego cared about Kim and Joss could not understand that. Shego was evil, perhaps more evil than Trin. Shego definitely should care less about Kim than Trin did. So, Joss could not figure out why Shego showed such concern.

“It better not happen again. You can’t waste time in the summer like you can in regular classes, Mini-me. Or at least find out about all of the work in advance, get it done, and then run off to save the world,” Trin advised her sister. She told Kim that at the beginning of the summer, but she supposed it needed repeating if Kim missed a quiz.

Kim held up her hands in surrender. “I know. I did all of that. I just had to leave at the time of the quiz because it was an emergency. I won’t do it again unless it’s an emergency. Besides, the professor let me know that if I explained myself, I could take a makeup. I have my bases covered, sis,” she assured the older Possible. She tossed Trin a smile, too, just to show there were no hard feelings, even though Trin was being her usual overprotective self. Shego got a glare, though. How dare Shego sell her out to Trin like that?

“All right, all right,” the blond dismissed the issue, waving it off. Still, she would keep an eye on Kim.

Kim turned her attention back to Joss. “So, anyway, like I was saying, I have to go to campus, anyway. Let me take you and show you around a little bit.”

It took Joss a moment to realize her cousin spoke to her. As soon as she realized it, her disagreeable disposition snapped back into place. Forest green eyes hardened as they locked onto Kim.

“I can go by myself,” Joss huffed, holding her chin up high in defiance. There was no way in Hell she was going to ride alone in a car with a social deviant. Anything could happen, after all.

“Just let the little brat go by herself, so she can miss the whole thing and get kicked out of the program already. We’ll all chip in to buy her a nice bus ticket back to Montana,” Shego remarked with a cruel smile as she waved Joss out. “This way we can get back to our Satan worshipping orgies.”

“Shego!” Kim hollered while pulling at her own hair. Her young cousin flinched and it as clear from her expression she believed the former thief. “You’re not helping.”

Shego grinned, like a damn shark. “I don’t think helping was my goal this morning. Let’s review the transcript to make sure.”

Kim groaned and covered her face with her hand for a long moment. Sometimes, in fact more often than not when people were around, her girlfriend could be infuriating. Turning her attention back to Joss, Kim tried to think of something she could say to change Joss’ mind.

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Joss grunted and fled to her room to retrieve her book bag. There was no way she was going to be trapped in a car with someone who participated in an orgy! _What the hell was Dad thinking, making me stay with these people?_

“Shego, why’d you do that?” Kim demanded to know, even though she could guess the reasoning behind it.

“I don’t like her,” Shego offered bluntly, not caring that Joss could definitely hear her. “I don’t like the way she’s acting or the way she’s treating you. Until she gets her act together, I’m going to be as bitchy as possible to her. Honest enough for you, cupcake?”

“She’s fourteen,” Kim said. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware consideration and appreciation came at a certain age. When do they start to grow in?” Shego inquired as she arched an eyebrow.

Kim rolled eyes and decided not to argue because she knew it would only get her into a fight with her girlfriend. She already had enough of that with this school business. It was hard to keep her mouth shut, though, because Shego looked so smug, like she won. Joss saved her from opening her mouth and probably putting her foot in it as Joss stormed out of the room again.

No one said anything when Joss walked out of the apartment with her book bag on her shoulders. Only one set of eyes watched the door as it opened and closed, getting Joss out of their lives for at least half of the day. Kim could and could not believe Joss was being so pigheaded. It made sense, as she was a Possible and they could be stubborn, but Possibles were also intelligent. The smart thing to do would be to take the ride and the offer of being shown around.

“You know, you’d think she’d want her set of keys,” Trin commented dryly and Shego burst out laughing.

“That’s not funny!” Kim huffed and scowled at both her sister and girlfriend. What did they not understand about Joss being fourteen? She was only a kid.

Trin and Shego did not comment as Kim grabbed the keys off of the coffee table that were meant for Joss. She then grabbed her own bag and trotted out of the apartment. Green and blue eyes rolled.

“So, you want to take a bet as to which one of us kills Joss first?” Shego proposed with a grin that would make the Cheshire cat look sane.

Trin shook her head. “I can’t kill her. My uncle would never forgive me.”

Shego shrugged. “I’ll spot you poisoning her food.”

“Oh, her food I can poison?”

Shego snorted. “Uh, yeah! Someone’s gotta teach her to stop talking to Kimmie like that. So, either I’m going to beat her ass or you’re going to poison her food and watch her eat it with that evil smile of yours, so that when she’s vomiting her whole stomach out she knows it was you.”

“That might work,” Trin agreed. Maybe a little food poisoning would teach Joss to watch her mouth around Kim. She would have to think about it. _Don’t you dare. Kim wouldn’t forgive you and neither would Uncle Slim_.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim trotted down to Trin’s car and hopped behind the driver’s seat. She could see Joss down the street already and she decided she would try once more to give the younger teen a ride. She hoped Joss was more practical than stubborn, or else she was going to make a poor impression on her first day.

“Joss, come on, get in!” Kim called as she rolled down the window for the auburn-haired girl to hear her.

Joss ignored her and kept walking while looking straight ahead of her. Kim sighed and actually had to count in her head to keep herself from saying something mean. She was not sure why her patience was so short with Joss, but she suspected it had something to do with the fact that Joss was her family, someone who knew her well, yet was treating her like a criminal just because she loved a woman. Yes, that woman was Shego, her former archenemy, but things changed and Shego loved her so much.

“Joss, come on. You won’t make it to the campus in time if you walk,” Kim warned the girl.

“I’m going to take the bus,” Joss answered in a clipped tone as she got to the bus stop. No one else was there, as everyone knew how spotty bus service could be on the weekend and there was no shade to wait for a bus that might never come in the blaring sun.

Kim scoffed. “You’re going to take a bus on a weekend around here? You’ll be lucky if you get to school by Monday if that’s the case.”

“I’m going to take the bus,” Joss repeated and she stayed right where she was. She looked off into the distance, down the street.

A vein throbbed in Kim’s neck and she decided to fight the battle in another manner. She drove off, leaving Joss to her own devices… or so it seemed. Twenty minutes later, the car came back around and Joss was still there, all alone, shoulders slumped and head down. The tanned face popped up when she heard a horn honk.

“Think you could use a ride now?” Kim inquired with a craned eyebrow.

Her cousin was quiet, glancing down the road again. There were worry lines under her eyes now, like she knew what everyone else in the city knew. The bus was not coming, not anytime soon anyway. There were little beads of sweat on the bridge of her nose and dark patches where her knapsack tucked under her arms.

Kim did not have time for this. “I’m not going to come back around a third time, Joss. I have an appointment myself and I won’t miss it because you want to throw a temper tantrum or hold irrational grudges. So, you’re either going to get in now or you’re never going to get school.”

Joss chewed on the inside of her cheek. Based on what she studied from the city transit schedule and the information from the school website, she would never make it in time, even if the bus came that very second. That made her decision. She got into the car, looking as if she was being forced into the automobile.

“For the record, the bus comes about every hour on the weekend and that’s if you’re lucky,” Kim said. Joss did not respond.

The ride to the school was quiet with Joss staring out of the window, making an effort not to look at her cousin. Kim focused on the road and argued with herself on whether or not she should try starting a conversation. In the end, she decided not to. She was tired already of making all of the effort and being met with undeserved hostility. Kim now believed Shego was right in the sense it was Joss’ deal, so Joss was the one who should have to reach out at some point.

The redhead parked the car in one of the school’s many parking lots and the cousins piled out. For just a moment, Kim was going to let Joss walk off. She had a question to ask, though.

“What building do you have to go to?” the hero asked. She could tell Joss the fastest way there, even though Joss had enough time to make her orientation. Kim liked to get to things early when she could, though, and feel her way around. She knew Joss was the same.

“I’ll find it myself,” Joss grunted. _I don’t need the help of some deviant! I don’t need help from any of them!_

Kim snorted. “Whatever.” _I have to let her come to me. I can’t keep pushing or I’ll just end up hurt and she’ll probably end up spoiled, even if she doesn’t realize it_.

The redhead charged off, not wanting to be later than Joss had already made her, even though she called her professor earlier and told him that she would be late. The younger teen was going to be on her own for now. Joss sucked her teeth, like she was the wronged party, and marched off, determined to fend for herself. The last thing she wanted was to be indebted to her cousins.

“Freaks and queers,” Joss huffed to herself as she wandered the campus with wide eyes. Surely starting her program would make all of this worth it.

-8-8-8-8-

“You know, you’ve been fumbling the ball a lot,” Shego commented as she stretched out on the sofa in Trin’s apartment. She was speaking to Tatsu as they had been left alone to “play nice” with each other. They attempted to do that by watching a football rerun. They were not huge fans, but it was really one of the few things they agreed on when it came to the television.

“What do you mean? My team’s winning,” Tatsu pointed out. She was curled up in one of the armchairs. She found she did not like the seat much when it was just her in it. _You might as well get used to being alone and you probably won’t have to worry about the armchair thing much longer either_.

The older woman chuckled a little bit and threw one of the couch pillows at Tatsu. It hit her on the top of the head and Shego snickered. “Not the game, Tats. With your girl.”

“Huh?” Tatsu turned to look at the pale woman with a confused look marring her features.

“With your bitch, you’re fucking up with her.” Shego made a meaningless hand gesture, as if it was meant to help Tatsu understand what she meant. It did not help. Shego sighed and held up a finger. “You didn’t get laid last night and it showed when you woke up.” She held up another finger. “She made you that special omelet for breakfast and you didn’t even notice, so forget saying something about it.” And came a third finger. “Now, she’s gone to do laundry and you didn’t volunteer to go with her to keep her company and whatever the hell else you do when you go boring places with her,” Shego stated, checking off each mistake on her fingers by tapping them with her opposite finger.

“She didn’t want Joss to hear…” Tatsu grumbled, eyes on the floor and a frown tugging at her lip. Well, that was the convenient excuse, but she probably had fucked up somehow and that was really why Trin did not want to be touched.

“Yeah, I’ll bet the little terror would’ve been on the phone immediately if she heard that. ‘Daddy, big bad lesbians are fucking right next door to me! They’ll come for me next!’ But, that doesn’t explain everything,” Shego argued with a little smirk.

Tatsu’s face twisted as she considered the next mistake. “The omelet she made was special?” She thought back to breakfast. She knew the omelet was different, not usually what she ate. It was delicious, like everything Trin made, but she did not guess it was special. Her mind had been on other things.

“You sort of just inhaled it without looking at it, huh? You’re really fucking up.” Shego shook her head.

Tatsu whimpered and continued to stare at the floor. How could she miss the omelet was special? Of course there was a reason why it was not what she usually ate and all she did was devour it like the pig she was, she thought. She moved and hid her face in her hands, feeling as if she might actually cry. She could not believe how stupid she was and how she was letting things slip away. Everything that made her happy would be gone soon and she would have no one to blame but herself.

“Hey, Tats, you can’t watch the game through your fingers. If you’re not going to watch, I’ll just lie and say my team won,” Shego teased with a grin. They had bet on the game, even though it was a rerun. It just happened to be a game they never saw before, so they could bet on it like a regular game.

Tatsu did not care, even though she could not stand to lose any money at the moment. All she could do was wonder why the hell she was so stupid? Why had Trin even stayed with her for so long? Why did she dare to think they would last forever? It was foolish to think someone like Trin would want to spend her life with the likes her, Tatsu thought.

Tatsu felt she was not smart enough to hold onto an intellectual like Trin. She was not strong enough to protect the blond. She no longer had the income to support Trin, not that Trin needed the support. Even when she had her garage, Trin made way more money than her through inventions and investments. She was not worldly enough to even hold a conversation with her blond bombshell. How could she ever begin to think she would be with Trin for the rest of her life? _Because you’re so damn stupid_.

“So, why didn’t you go with bitchy to do laundry?” Shego inquired after a long moment of silence. Too long, if anyone bothered to ask her.

“Don’t call her that,” Tatsu mumbled, frowning in the former thief’s direction.

“Oh, come on! You know I’m joking! God, you’re damn sour today!” Shego flung another throw pillow at the pouting mechanic.

Tatsu dipped the pillow as expected. “Stop being such an asshole for ten seconds.”

“Fuck you. I’m always an asshole. It usually doesn’t bother you. What’s your damn gripe? If you’re going to pout, you should’ve gone with bitchy and done the laundry. Why’re you such a crybaby these past few days?” Shego huffed. Usually, she and Tatsu had a decent time being left alone, acting like two eight-year-olds with their mommies gone.

Tatsu grunted and a deep frown cut through her face. “Shut up.”

“Fuck you. I don’t shut up for anybody. You want me to shut up, come over here and make me,” Shego ordered, pointing down in front of her.

So, of course, Tatsu had to get up and try to make Shego shut up. Trin did not even bat an eye when she came to see the pair leaping around the living room, grappling with each other. As long as they did not break anything, she took it as a good sign they were “playing around.” Trin went to put the laundry away without bothering to say anything to them. Kim came into the same scene and reacted differently.

“You two! Cut it out and clean up this mess!” Kim ordered, motioning around to the knocked over items on the floor. They had thankfully not knocked over any furniture or broke anything. Trin would have mounted their heads on the wall if they had.

The two fighters paused to regard Kim and then continued their brawl. Shego had the mind to stop when Kim started glaring, but the look did not mean the same to Tatsu, so she kept going on. Shego yelped as she suddenly found herself in some kind of wrestling hold with her face pressed into the hardwood floor.

“Thanks, Kimmie,” Shego groaned. She whizzed, finding it hard to breathe.

“Tatsu,” Kim said with a pleading expression.

The mechanic sighed and stepped away from the green-skinned annoyance, throwing Shego’s legs out while she was at it. The former villainess growled and shot up, hands ignited. A moment beat by and then the hands went out. It was time to move on.

“What’s for dinner around this joint, anyway?” Shego inquired with a smile. Kim sighed and shook her head.

“I’m not sure. Baby, is there anything you want?” Trin asked, sticking her head out of their bedroom to look at her lover.

Tatsu blinked and ran her hand through her hair. “I dunno…” she muttered. She did not want to chance saying the wrong thing, even if it was just dinner. Who knew what wrong step would be the last straw?

“No?” Trin stepped back into the room for a moment and poked her head out for a second time. “Kim, is there something you want?”

“Why don’t you ever ask me?” Shego huffed, going as far as stomping her food. “It was my idea about dinner, anyway!”

Kim looked at her girlfriend. “How was it your idea about dinner? We eat dinner every night.”

Trin did not even look in Shego’s direction. “Mini-me?”

“Maybe we should wait for Joss,” Kim proposed. She did not want to throw something out there and it end up being something Joss did not like.

“But, I’m hungry now and there’s no telling when she’ll be home since you let the spoiled brat walk,” Shego pointed out while patting her girlfriend on the back. She was so proud of Kim for coming home alone.

“I didn’t let her walk. It’s just that when I got out of my meeting with my professor, which went very well I have to say, I asked around about where the orientation was. By the time I found it, they had already gotten out. Someone told me they were getting a tour of the campus and it’d take a couple of hours and I didn’t know where the tour was, so I just hope Joss is smart enough to call when she’s done,” Kim explained. 

Shego’s face fell, along with the hand that had been on Kim’s shoulder. Just when she thought she rubbed off a little on Kim when it came to everyday life, her dreams were shattered. She knew caring so much was only going to lead to heartache for Kim and she really wanted to avoid that in someway, but getting Kim to stop caring did not seem to be working.

“So, you’re going to go out of your way and pick her up then,” the ex-thief said. 

“I have to. You know how the buses are around here on the weekends. Besides, Joss doesn’t know how to take the bus,” Kim countered. Where Joss was from, there were no buses beyond the yellow school bus. She had to give up to Joss for trying, but she did not really know what she was doing.

“Yet Joss does know how to act like she knows every damn thing, so you need to let her figure out that she doesn’t,” Shego argued.

“Look, Uncle Slim trusted me and Trin to take care of his daughter and that’s what we’re going to do!” Kim proclaimed. Why was that so hard to understand? “Right, sis?”

There was a moment of silence. “Right,” came from Trin’s bedroom. She had to repeat it to herself that they had made Slim a promise, which meant they had to send Joss back in one piece at the very least. “We’ll wait for Joss to get back then.”

Shego’s face hit the floor for the second time. Tatsu’s face scrunched up in confusion. Trin agreed with Kim that they had to take care of that little brat? Their heads swam at the thought of Trin caring about someone who obviously did not give a damn about her. It was surreal. Kim grinned and puffed out her chest.

“Oh, stop looking so smug,” Shego grumbled.

Kim kissed her cheek. “Oh, come on. You know you think it’s sexy.” That was not a lie. “You wanna come with me to pick Joss up if she calls?” 

Shego scoffed and stepped away from her. “Don’t try to bribe me with your sexiness, Possible.” Kim laughed.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Joss tries to get home on her own and ends up turning a corner, and not just in her journey home.


	5. Hard Knocks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. Well, I do own Trin and Tatsu, but everyone else belongs to Disney.

5: Hard Knocks 

Joss smiled and waved goodbye to her new friends. She had met plenty of people during orientation who were in the summer program with her. Many of them were going to be her classes, too. She tried her best to get along with them, even though she thought quite a few of them were strange. She knew it was mostly because they were from all over the country and the world and she had never left Montana. Hell, she had barely been away from the ranch, much less the state.

It was nice meeting so many different people, she thought to herself. She wished she was staying in the dorms with them in order to get to know them better, but that was not to be. Funny enough, they thought it was cool that she had cousins to stay with, so she could see the city. They also thought she had to come from a very smart family to have two cousins in the school. She did not argue with them, even though she thought Trin might have lied or cheated to get into the school.

She stuck around with her new friends until they had to be in the dorms. There was a ten o’clock curfew, which her friends complained about, even though it was not near that time when they started toward the dorms. They had not stayed out that late because everyone wanted to put their things away and get dinner. Joss’ stomach informed her they were not the only ones who wanted dinner.

“We’ll see you Monday!” several of her new friends called as she split from them. They all waved to her and she waved back. There were smiles and it was nice. Now, it was time to get “home” and to something not so nice.

“Hmm… according to the bus schedule, there should be a bus coming in a few minutes,” Joss muttered to herself and she marched to the nearest bus stop. She felt proud of herself and smiled when she found the stop, happy she studied the transit maps well enough to know where to find the bus stops around the massive school campus.

A few minutes came and went, yet no bus showed. Joss remembered what happened that morning when she waited for the bus and how Kim told her the buses did not really follow a schedule on the weekends, despite what city transit claimed. Joss gave the bus a half-hour before she started walking. It took thirty minutes to get the campus that morning by car, but Joss was certain she could walk to Trin’s apartment from there. She even ignored the fact that it was starting to get dark.

She had been walking for fifteen minutes before it suddenly felt like her stomach was ready to cave in on itself. Lunch had been almost seven hours ago and she did not have any snacks in between. It had not helped that she had been in the sun all day, touring campus and wandering about with her new friends, everyone expressing excitement over the program. She was tired and hungry.

She wrapped one hand around her snarling belly and started scanning around for places to eat since she doubted there would be any dinner waiting for her at Trin’s place. She did not want to eat anything there, anyway. Trin did not care about her and she did not want anything from Trin. _How much money do I have on me?_ She could not recall, wisely not carrying all of her money on her, but she had to have enough to get something to eat. If not cash, her father had given her a card to use for souvenirs and any necessities her cousins did not have or provide.

She pressed on while taking note that a young man had been walking behind her for the past minute. It would not have meant much to her if she was normal, but she was walking slowly due to her hunger. She could not help wondering why he had not passed her yet as other people had on the street.

It was a big city and it was getting dark, Joss reminded herself. Just as she was about to get suspicious about the guy behind her, he showed her exactly what he was after. He rushed her as she came to a narrow alley and shoved her into the shadow-covered dead-end. She did not even have time to scream as he forced her into the hard brick wall and covered her mouth with his hand.

“Just give me your money and you won’t get hurt,” he ordered in a harsh, but low voice.

Joss was ready to show her would-be assailant some moves she learned from her cousin until he pressed a knife to her throat. She gulped and her heart sped up while her wide dark green eyes focused on the blade at her neck, feeling the cold metal against her heated flesh. The thought she was going to die floated through her mind briefly. She was going to die for a whole twenty dollars and whatever money was on the card her dad gave her.

Reacting “like a Possible” as Shego would later put it, Joss kicked her assailant in the groin as hard as she could. He let out a high-pitch squeal and fell the ground. His knife tumbled from his hand while he began to turn a dark blue. Joss did not stick around to see if he was all right. She dashed back onto the street and ran as fast as she could. She turned several corners and then ran into a busy diner, hoping she lost the would-be thief. After several heart-pounding minutes, Joss figured she lost him since he did not reappear anywhere and then she realized she lost herself, too.

“Oh, no,” she mumbled to herself. She was lost in a city where she had never been before and would not begin to know where to go. She did not want to chance asking anyone for directions, not after the random man tried to rob her at knifepoint. Who knew what someone might try if they knew she did not know where she was? Her lip trembled and she felt like she might cry. _How could things have gone so wrong so quickly?_ Barely an hour ago, she was having a good time with her new friends and now she was shaking from almost being mugged.

_Get it together, Joss_. She did not want to fall apart, not in a room full of strangers in a strange city. She had to be strong, appear strong, so no one else would bother her. She took a deep breath and steeled her expression. She did not want to look like a lost doe, as she was certain she had in the street. So, after taking several breaths, she tried to assess her situation to come up with a solution.

She had no idea where she was, so she could not walk to where she needed to be. She did not have enough money for a cab. It was almost completely dark outside, so it was even more unsafe than before. She had to do something, though. It was not like she could stay in the diner the whole night.

At a loss for what to do, Joss shoved her hands into her pants’ pockets. She felt her cell phone and ran her fingers along it. She knew what she could do and she did not think much when she did it. She pulled out her phone and went through her contacts list before putting the phone to her ear.

“What’s the sitch?” The familiar greeting made her smile, but she did not realize the expression was on her face.

“Um… Kim, I got out of orientation and I thought you might come and get me,” Joss answered, trying her best to sound normal. Instead, she sounded somewhat embarrassed and a little shaken. She could not help the tremble in her voice. She was not sure how this would go and if Kim could not come get her, especially soon, she could end up dead before the end of the day.

“Sure, no big,” Kim replied. She smiled because her cousin was not being rude for the first time. She thought Joss’ tone was due to the fact that she had to ask for help when it was clear she wanted to try doing things for herself. Kim actually respected Joss wanting to do things for herself, but she should understand it was all right to ask for assistance as well if she needed it. “Just tell me what you’re near, so I know what part of the campus I need to come to.”

Joss looked around, face scrunched up a little as she took in the waning crowd of the diner. “Um… I’m not on campus anymore.”

Kim did not think much of that. “No? Then where are you?” Maybe Joss wandered off of campus with some friends or to explore around the area. She did not think that was too bad.

Joss had to step outside to read the name of the diner from a tattered banner in front of it. “Some place called _Ted’s Eats_. It’s on…” She squinted to the read the street name on the corner. “Calle Avenue.” 

The sharp gasp made the young teen cringe, as did the yelling that followed. “Joss, what are you doing in that part of town? It’s dangerous around there, especially after dark!” A chair streaked across the floor as Kim jumped up.

“I was trying to walk home,” the younger Possible explained weakly. 

“Joss, you… you know what, never mind. I’ll talk to you once we get you home. I’m leaving right now. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”

Joss looked around the restaurant and outside. “Yes, please.” 

Kim made sure to talk to Joss for the whole time as she drove to get the girl. They talked about how orientation went and about the people that she met. Kim noted how excited Joss was about meeting people from all over the globe and learning all about them. _How ironic_, the hero thought. Her cousin was actually very open-minded, except when it came to family it would seem.

Joss was also excited about her classes. She went on and on about the materials she would receive in each class the first day, even though the students had already gotten so much free supplies. She talked about meeting her professors, who all seemed nice and opened to helping every single student in the program, even though there were so many students in the program. The enthusiasm filled Kim with a joy she was happy to feel for her cousin, even if Joss was unkind to her. By the time she pulled up to the diner, she felt like she was close to her little cousin again. 

“Thanks, Kim,” Joss said in a quiet voice as she got into the car. Her thanks were not just for the pick up, but also for keeping her calm when she was alone. She was able to forget about what caused her to call her cousin in the first place because Kim stayed on the line with her. 

“No problem, Joss. Next time, though, just call if you need someone to pick you up. We don’t want anything to happen to you trying to find your way around the city by yourself. I can barely get around this place by myself and I’ve been here since August,” Kim pointed out. They were not in some small college town, but a fairly big city with a lot of narrow streets, back alleys, and bad neighborhoods to go along with the universities, museums, and gated communities. Anything could happen. 

“I was doing fine,” Joss countered in a proud tone, jutting her chin in the air. Well, she thought she was doing fine. She was not totally sure if she had been going the right way and she would never know now thanks to that would-be robber.

“I’m sure you were, but you know, there are some places in the city you shouldn’t go, especially alone. Until you learn where those places are, you should just ask. It doesn’t make you any less capable if you ask for help.”

Joss nodded to show she understood. It was nice that Kim did not press the issue or bother her with questions. Kim also did not rub in the fact that Joss called her, needed her. It was nice.

The rest of the trip home was spent with Joss telling Kim more about orientation and how she looked forward to Monday, which was when she and the other high-schoolers in the program would start their college courses. The program had two hundred of the top high-school students from around the country taking their choices in a number of college courses. There were a hundred top students from around the world in the program, too. The students would get credit for the courses, too. 

“I have so many classes. I mean, it’s like being a full time college student, but taking necessary classes instead of stuff in your major. We get to get those credits out of the way, so we can focus more on our major next summer. I got to meet all of my professors and they made it seem like it’d be hard, but they’re so supportive. It’s gonna be so cool!” Joss practically bounced in her seat. The near-robbery could not cut into her high over school, especially since she was safe now.

When they arrived at Trin’s apartment, Joss was surprised to find dinner was made and everyone had waited for her. She did not say anything about it and went to wash her hands to join everyone at the dinner table. There was pasta with chicken, vegetables, and buttered bread. She found dinner to be much like breakfast with Trin and Shego arguing, but nothing really coming of it. Kim tried to play referee while Tatsu was quiet, very quiet.

“Guys, stop being crazy for one second, so Joss can tell us about her orientation,” Kim ordered.

Shego and Trin paused and turned to Kim. They regarded her as if she was the crazy one, but she glared at them. They glanced at each other and sighed. Their eyes cut to Joss and Kim smiled at her. Joss ducked her head, took a breath, and started about her program. Shego and Trin were surprisingly quiet through the whole thing.

After dinner, Joss went to take a shower. She found places for her toiletries and inspected the ones already in the bathroom. She guessed they mostly, if not all, belonged to Trin. Most of them smelled like Trin, anyway.

Her shower was not disturbed, even though she kept glancing at the door as if she expected someone to burst in at any moment despite the fact that the door was locked. She dressed in only one set of pajamas that night and, when she went to “her” bedroom, she did not lock the door. She fell into bed and slept easily, especially since she did not hear any “oh, god” screams that night.

-*-(New day)-*-

Joss was in her morning class, which her cousins had helped her find. She came to school that morning with Trin and Kim. The cousins had not spoken in the car ride, but Joss had not turned Kim down when the redhead offered to help her find her class. The funny thing was that Kim did not know where the building was either. Trin had been the one to answer. Still, Joss had thanked Kim when it was all said and done and said nothing to Trin. 

The course she currently sat in was ancient philosophy. She was expected to have a well-rounded schedule and they had to have six classes, so to go with her science and math classes, she decided to take philosophy and introduction to Japanese. She had each class twice a week, three classes each day with each class being two hours long, and a three-day weekend. Before class started, she and some of her new friends who were in the same class compared schedules to find out if they would see more of each other. They all wished each other luck and talked how excited they were to be able to gain college credits. They had to pass their classes with at least a B in order to get credit.

When the professor walked in, all conversation stopped. The professor decided to do roll call, just to make sure everyone in the class was on his roster for the summer. Every thing went normal until he got to Joss’ name. 

“Jocelyn Possible?”

Her hand went up. “Here.”

“Are you related to Trin Possible?” he asked curiously.

Joss blinked, not expecting that one. “Um… she’s my cousin.”

His eyes went a little wide. “Really? Brilliant woman… if not a bit strange.” He glanced off in thought. “I hope you spark as many good debates as she did in my modern philosophy course.” With that said, he went back to taking roll and Joss was left confused. Several of her classmates were took curious glances at her.

After the class, Joss was left to explain to her friends more about her two cousins. Her friends were a little surprised a professor would remember a single student, so they thought Trin had to be something special. But, beyond that, they recognized the name Possible. Unlike the professor, her friends were more interested in discussing Kim than Trin. 

Joss found herself answering any and all questions about the redheaded hero, but found herself stymied every time a couple of people asked about Trin. Joss did not know a damn thing about Trin’s academic career, which a couple of her friends kept asking about. Apparently, they had read some articles she wrote for a scientific journal. Joss did not even know what science Trin was interested in.

“You’re lucky to have such famous cousins. I bet you’re just as smart as them,” one of the boys in the group commented, smiling at Joss.

Joss scratched her head, not sure what to say. She was prepared to argue Trin was not that smart or famous, but she did not want to alienate her few friends who seemed to like the idea they had of the blond Possible. She bet they would change their tunes if they knew the real Trin. The Trin who flaunted her depraved relationship in front of children, the Trin who disrespected her whole family, the Trin who was more than likely a drug addict, and the Trin who was so evil her real parents did not want her… the real Trin…

…The Trin who made breakfast in the morning just the way each individual at the table wanted it. The Trin who made dinner and kept it warm until Kim came home with Joss. The real Trin who listened to her last night when she talked about her program.

Joss shook that thought away and went onto her next class. She had pre-calculus and she was very much looking forward to it. She got the syllabus for the class, just like for her philosophy class. The students were also given the textbooks for free, as such things were included in the program. They also received advanced, scientific calculators that cost over a hundred dollars, but they got them for free. There was free computer software and other items for that class and all the others. The whole day was so exciting for her that she was even happy to get homework that first day and she did not mind having her backpack weighed down with several books.

-8-8-8-8-

“They gave us all this free stuff, even though they gave us free stuff before the program started! We didn’t have to pay for any of the textbooks, even the ones that were, like, over a hundred dollars!” Joss informed her cousins as she bounced around the backseat of the car. She was mostly talking to Kim, who looked at her while Trin was focused on the road ahead of them.

“That’s great, Joss.” Kim smiled, genuinely smiled. Her eyes shone brightly thanks to her young cousin’s excitement. She thought the girl might explode from her delight._ Such a Possible. So happy to be at school_.

“They all jumped into the work right away, too! It was nothing like regular school where they clown around the first day. They wanted to see what we know already and everybody knows so much. My friend, Jacob, he’s from Germany and he knew almost everything Professor Bailey asked in ancient philosophy. No one at my school is ever so smart and ready to learn. I can’t want to learn about all of the philosophers! I mean, all we touched in school were Socrates and a little Aristotle.”

Kim laughed as Joss just went on and on. She was sure Joss did not even realize most of the things she said, just going on due to how fired up she was. Kim could not help glancing at Trin and saw a smile stuck to that pale face as well. Trin was touched by Joss’ desire to learn and her excitement over something most people took for granted.

“Life is about enjoying the little things…” Trin whispered, speaking more to herself, but the words were for the younger ones in the car. At that moment, she hoped they were both always eager over little things, but did big things with their lives.

Joss was not quiet even when they got back to the apartment. Shego and Tatsu paused in their activities, one working over a speed bag in the corner and the other taking apart the toaster for lack of a better thing to do. They turned their attention to the noise, which was at the door and came inside when the door was opened. They looked at each other when they saw the noise was Joss speaking… to her cousins of all people.

“Twilight Zone,” Shego decided and Tatsu nodded. Yeah, they had to be in the Twilight Zone, especially considering how big Joss’ smile was while talking to Kim and Trin. Proving the fact all the more was the tiny smile Trin wore. 

The chatter persisted only for another few seconds and then they were all drawn back into reality. Trin went over to Tatsu and greeted her lover as she always did, with a lingering kiss on the lips. Although most would not label the kiss “scandalous” and it was tame for a couple, the action slammed on the breaks in Joss’ head, but she still had a full, head-on collusion with her surroundings.

She was in a house full of lesbians and degenerates. Three of them were criminals. Well, she speculated on Tatsu’s criminal status, but news always went around the Possible family when Trin had a brush with the law. She mumbled something, an excuse to leave most assuredly, but quite possibly not English with the way the words slurred together. She rushed to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Tension pushed into the room with the sound of the slamming door. Trin’s jaw tightened as her eyes shifted from her lover to the closed door. Kim’s expression quickly went from grinning with happiness to wounded, hurt, and bleeding internally. Shego went to her side, holding her close, even though Shego was slightly sweaty from her time at the speed bag. Kim did not seem to care, burying her face in Shego’s shoulder. 

“I guess kissing is off your list of things you can do in the house, right along with sex, huh?” Shego remarked with a forced grin directed at Trin and Tatsu, trying to make the heavy atmosphere a little lighter. That kid screwed up a lot of things with her attitude and Shego really just wanted to put her on a bus back to the boondocks of Montana. No one had time to deal with her crap for three months.

Tatsu swallowed hard and searched Trin’s face for some response to that. Was kissing out of the question now, too? She had the excuse, after all. What would be next? Cuddling? Touching altogether? When would the point come when Trin just told her to go back to Middleton and all communications would cease? She would be alone again, but it would be so much worse as she had known this life before. She would be nothing then.

Tatsu was about to say something, but she stopped, fear clogging her throat. What if she said something stupid or wrong? As Shego had pointed out a couple of days ago, she had been fumbling a lot lately. She did not want to make things worse and she was sure she would say the wrong thing. She was no good at talking, after all.

“Mind your own damn business, you second-string sidekick,” Trin said to Shego as she stood up to her proper height. “I’ve got a research paper I need to start. Someone figure out what they want for dinner, go to the store and buy the materials if necessary, and I’ll do the rest.” Trin then retreated into her bedroom to change into something more comfortable.

Tatsu glanced up, noticing Shego wrap Kim in a comforting hug, squeezing her close. The mechanic ran her hand through her short hair as she realized Shego was trying to take away the edge Joss brought on. Feeling like a voyeur, she turned her ice blue eyes back to the toaster and remembered the first time she had ever taken one apart. She had been about eight or nine and her father slapped her in the back of the head, stating an idiot like her had no brains to be playing with things like that and she better pay for it since she was too stupid to fix it. She had listened to him and it took her a couple of months to get enough money to buy him a new toaster. 

_I put the other one back together, though,_ Tatsu recalled. She had been proud at the time, but now it felt stupid. Why had she done it in the first place? Besides, it was just a toaster. It was not like she had built something complex. She had not even built the toaster, just put it back together. She shook those thoughts away, hating to remember how stupid she used to be and was certain that she still was.

“Hey, Tats, we’ll be back later,” Shego said, leading Kim to the door. Kim did not bother to look up, wanting to bury herself in Shego’s warmth.

Shego wanted to patch up her girlfriend’s injured soul and knew that would best be done at their own home, so they left. The pale woman had a feeling it was going to be a long and rough summer if she was going to have to deal with a heartbroken Kim every time Joss saw Trin and Tatsu kiss.

-8-8-8-8- 

Shego was on the sofa, channel surfing so quickly the shows barely appeared on the screen. She did it mostly because she knew it got Tatsu’s nerves when the mechanic was actually trying to see what was on. Sure enough, Tatsu was in the usual armchair, leaning forward, trying her damnedest to see what Shego just let go by. It was not the best way to alleviate boredom, but it was something to pass the time while Kim focused on her homework.

“Goddamn it, Shego, just keep it on one channel!” Tatsu snarled, beating against the arm of the furniture with her fist. 

The outburst — as much as Tatsu could have an outburst with her voice — caught the attention of the other party in the living room, Joss. The young teen was parked on the floor with her pre-cal book out, papers all over the floor, calculator on, and a perplexed look on her face that was replaced by one of shock when Tatsu went off. The Montana native flinched and looked ready to jump to the moon, panting to the point they could see her chest heave with each breath.

Tatsu noticed and was not sure what caused her next course of action, but she tore away from her seat and fled into the bedroom. She felt like she could not do anything aside from run away. It was that or end up hurting Joss in some manner and she knew that would not sit well with the Possibles.

Shego watched Tatsu go and then turned her attention to Joss. She wished Shin was around. He would be perfect in managing to deflect all of the insanity that was going on in the apartment lately. 

_I just wanted a nice, quiet summer where I could see Kimmie in a bikini. Was that too much to ask for?_ Shego wondered. It seemed so. Instead of Kim in a bikini, she had to deal with family drama too stupid to comprehend, which said a lot in her opinion considering the family she came from. 

For a long moment, Shego sat there and watched Joss as she calmed down. Her shoulders relaxed a little and her eyes went from scanning the apartment back to the floor. The younger woman focused back on her books and homework. Her face went back to scrunching up in bewilderment. The numbers obviously were not making much sense to the young Possible.

“You know, Kimmie’s a whiz at this math shit. Doesn’t even use a calculator. Just fucking channels Newton or something,” Shego commented as if she was speaking to the air. Even though Shego knew she did not say it enough, she was very attracted to Kim’s brain. Smart was sexy and Kim was very smart.

“I don’t need any help,” Joss declared in a proud voice.

“Never said you did. Just stating a fact. Kimmie’s a math genius. Now, if I needed help with my math homework, she’d be the one I’d ask.” Shego shrugged. “I mean, she’s not majoring in math just cuz it seemed like a good idea at the time.” 

Joss did not reply, but her face changed. Shego turned her attention back to the television, figuring her work for the evening was done. After a few long minutes, Joss got up, taking her textbook, paper, and calculator with her. She went to the table where Kim was buried in books of her own.

“Um… Kim…” Joss said, fidgeting a little. 

“Yes, Joss?” Kim asked while trying to figure out why English courses felt the need to shove so much reading into between classes.

“Um… you major in math, right?” Joss twisted her mouth up a little.

Kim looked up. “I do. You need help?”

“Um… yes, please…”

“Well, pull up a chair and I’ll help,” Kim answered with a smile. 

Joss smiled, too, and did as she was told. She put her books next to Kim’s books and the redhead went into explaining how to get through the pre-cal problems. Joss nodded when she understood, questioned when she did not, and worked through problems with Kim as a guide. The smiles did not waver between those two, but there was still tension in the apartment.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Trin and Tatsu slip further apart while Joss starts getting along with her cousins until a surprise doesn’t go so well. Special guests: Ron and Yori!


	6. Get Along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu, though.

6: Get Along

The Possibles were tucked away in Trin’s living room. Kim worked on her English studies on the floor and Trin worked on a paper while sitting on the sofa. Joss was done with her homework thanks to help from Kim and watched television in one of the armchairs. Shego had gone back to her and Kim’s apartment for a long shower; it was a ploy to lure Kim home, so they could have some privacy. Tatsu had volunteered to do the dishes, so she was currently up to her elbows in suds. _But, being useful_, she mentally insisted.

“Remind me again why I need to take a lit course,” Kim groaned, even though she was almost finished with her reading.

“It’s a scam set up by colleges to make sure even people who aren’t English majors can read,” Trin remarked. 

“You think you’re joking, but I’m sure it is a scam. I should’ve taken the world mythology course. Thanks to you, I’d have crushed that,” Kim said. The grade would have been so easy and would have counted the same as her lit course in her required coursework. But, she was not known for doing the easy thing.

“We both know you took the classic lit course because you love the classics. You just don’t appreciate looking at them through the lens your professor wants you to.”

Kim stuck her tongue out at her big sister. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Tatsu listened to the conversation and found herself reminded how smart her girlfriend was. She would never catch up to Trin in terms of genius. She would never match Trin in education either. She would never be able to have the conversation Kim was having with Trin. Being left behind felt more inevitable than ever before. _Did you really think washing the dishes would mean anything? The woman’s a genius from a family full of the same and she could just put the damned dishes in the dishwasher, you idiot_.

Tatsu’s stomach twisted at the thought. She managed to shake it off once she was done with the dishes. She marched into the living room when she was done and flopped down on the sofa with her blond bombshell. She was about to make herself comfortable by curling into Trin’s side, but she noticed Joss watching her out of the corner of her eye. For a moment, Tatsu did not care and moved anyway, but then she remembered the temper tantrum Joss threw earlier, not to mention the way her lover pulled away from her when Joss threw the temper tantrum.

Trin noticed her love coming closer to her, which made her feel light inside, and then Tatsu suddenly pulled away. Trin had to swallow down more emotion in that moment than she thought possible and silently prayed she did not choke on it. It felt like it got stuck in her throat and chest and pained her for several long moments. She tried to focus on her paper, but of course, she was now plagued by thoughts of her baby not wanting her anymore.

The blond wondered, what went wrong? Was she too needy? Was her life just too crazy? Was she not affectionate enough? Was she not there enough? Why was Tatsu falling out of love with her? Was there something she could do to prevent that or was she just going to have to let Tatsu go?

_I’ll do whatever I can to make her happy,_ Trin thought. Of course, that could mean letting Tatsu go. The very idea sat like hot lead in her stomach. She doubted she would ever love someone like she loved Tatsu. But, that did not matter. She had to do what was best for Tatsu. That was what love was, after all.

The night went on with Tatsu sitting on the sofa with Trin, but not touching her in any way. Kim eventually got up to leave going to her own apartment, definitely taking more time to do so than Shego liked, but she needed to finish her work without distraction. Joss fled to her bedroom shortly after the hero left. Tatsu glanced over at her lover several times, wondering if she could embrace her now, but decided against it. She would not be able to take Trin pulling away again. 

-8-8-8-8-

Kim made sure to put all of her schoolwork away and set it on the coffee table in the living room of her apartment. She made sure the books she would need tomorrow were all put away in her book bag, which she then placed to the side of the coffee table. With everything where it was supposed to be, she made her way to the bedroom. She walked past the spare room they used as a gym and then into the bedroom to find Shego in bed, curled up with a book.

“Hey, Princess, I thought you were going to stay there with the way things were going with your baby cousin,” Shego commented. Things with Joss were going so smoothly Shego seriously thought she might be sleeping alone that night because Kim would just hang out with her cousin and sister for the rest of the night. It was not an idea she liked, but it was nice Joss was finally able to see how awesome Kim was.

“Thanks for the help, Shego,” Kim said with a bright smile.

Shego feigned ignorance, waving her lover’s words off. “What help? I didn’t do anything but curse the little brat out whenever I could.” And she would continue to do that any time Joss got out of line.

Kim only smiled. She did not expect Shego to own up to her actions. She wanted to let her lover know she recognized the effort and appreciated Shego was trying to help her with her cousin. Now, if only she could tell Shego how sweet that was without actually ticking the older woman off, she would be all set.

When nothing came to mind at that moment, Kim went to take her shower and she then crawled in bed with Shego. The pale woman quickly abandoned her book and wrapped her arms around Kim, letting the hero find out that her girlfriend was quite nude underneath their sheets.

“Shego!” Kim squeaked as she was pressed against the supple form the ex-thief.

“What? It’s hot!” Shego grinned, showing off almost all of her teeth, as she gave the excuse for her nakedness.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kim remarked while making herself comfortable. She rested her head on the offered green shoulder. She caressed the naked, soft skin of her girlfriend and smiled while doing so. Shego felt so good under her fingertips.

Shego could not help smiling, too, thanks to the attention. “So, how’d the homework go? I don’t want to have to kick your sister’s ass because she keeps being bitchy about everything. Besides, school is important,” she stated seriously.

The redhead chuckled a bit, even though she knew Shego was being dead serious. Shego had gotten on her case during her first year as much as Trin had. It was one of those times when the pair teaming up proved to be more annoying than when they were at each other’s throats. Shego took school very seriously, having two master degrees of her own. Kim was certain Shego regretted never using her degrees, which was the reason for the older woman getting on her case.

“I finished everything,” Kim assured her girlfriend as she stretched out against Shego, wanting to make her forget about schoolwork. Kim had enough schoolwork for the moment. It was time for some fun.

“Good, then we can have a little playtime!” Shego laughed as she shifted and rolled on top of the hero.

“Shego!” Kim giggled and squirmed, purposely rubbing up against her girlfriend. The friction felt good and she knew it would feel even better once she coaxed Shego to help her out of her pajamas.

Shego’s grin turned into a simple smile as she stared into the olive green eyes of her lover, which caused Kim to stop moving for a moment. Shego paused and wondered when she fell in love with the hero. How did Kim go from being just a pest to someone who owned her heart? She did not know the exact date or time and she realized she did not care.

“Shego…?” Kim said, wondering just what was going through her lover’s mind. From the look on Shego’s face, she could guess, but she wanted to know for sure.

“I love you, Kimmie.”

“I love you, too. But, that’s not what you were thinking about.”

Shego smiled. “No, I was thinking I love you. Just trying to pinpoint when that happened.” 

“Maybe sometimes it’s impossible to pinpoint because it happens little by little.” Kim was sure that was what happened with her. She was not sure when her respect for Shego turned into a desire to be with her and then transformed into love, but she loved Shego.

“Yeah, maybe it does, but I love you.”

“Like I said, I love you, too.” Kim wrapped her arms around Shego and kissed her deeply. Shego kissed her back and they lost themselves in each other.

Shego continued to smile as they broke apart. She rested her forehead against Kim’s head and caressed Kim’s cheek. Kim’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she stared at Shego.

“I want you to be happy…” Shego whispered. She wanted to protect Kim from all the ills of the world, wrap Kim’s happiness in a bubble, and keep it out of the dark to make sure Kim only knew joy and light.

Kim gave her a lingering peck on the lips. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

Shego nodded and silently vowed to continue on protecting Kim. She was also going to protect the future she wanted them to have. She was going to have to get Kim through Joss first, she knew that.

“So, what about if what I’m doing involves taking your clothes off?” Shego asked, trying to lighten the mood again. She definitely wanted to take her mind off of Joss.

“Honestly, I’m wondering why I’m still dressed in the first place.” Kim wiggled her eyebrows.

Shego took that invitation as what it was and yanked Kim’s camisole, tossing it behind her. Honestly, she did not understand why Kim wore pajamas to bed anyway. It was summer and hot. Not to mention, Shego’s body burned hot as well and Kim practically slept on top of her every night.

Shego kissed every bit of skin she uncovered and Kim sighed as a calm, almost soothing feeling settled in her body. How could anyone think how Shego made her feel was wrong? She did not understand how or why, but she could not think too much on it as Shego pressed against her again while pulling her shorts down.

“Stay with me, Kim,” Shego whispered as she nipped at Kim’s collarbone.

“Always,” Kim promised as she ran her hands through Shego’s lush hair. She did not care about Joss’ opinion or her family’s opinion about her relationship. She and Shego loved each other. That was more than enough for her. 

-*-(New day)-*-

“Okay, so how does this work?” Joss inquired, speaking to Kim, while pointing to a page in her textbook. They were in Trin’s living room, sitting on the floor, which was littered with their schoolwork.

Shego was at the table, waiting for food and reading a book. She glanced in the living room every so often, making sure things were calm. Trin was in the kitchen and could see her quite plainly whenever her eyes strayed from her book, but she never said anything. Shego wondered if it was out of respect since Shego had yet to say anything about the fact that Tatsu stopped touching Trin some days ago. They both could avoid embarrassment as long as they both kept their big mouths shut.

“Shego, get them,” Trin said out of the blue.

The former thief rolled her eyes at the order. “Hey! Bookworms and sleepyheads! Chow’s on!” Shego was the dinner bell.

“Let’s go eat,” Kim said as she stood up from her place on the floor. Joss followed her lead and they both stretched as they settled at their proper height. With that out of the way, Joss started walking toward the table while Kim shook Tatsu awake. The mechanic was sleeping on the couch.

Tatsu swatted a little at the redhead, getting Kim to back up. “I’m up, Trin-clone,” she muttered into the sofa cushion.

“You’ve been sleeping a lot on the couch the past few days. Are you okay? If you’re getting sick, you should tell Trin. You know she’ll love playing nurse for you,” Kim remarked with a cheeky grin that she could have only picked up from Shego.

Tatsu resisted the urge to snort, but had to yawn to cover up the noise that escaped her throat. She would love nothing more than to have her girlfriend play nurse with her, but she was certain nothing like that would ever happen. Trin was not even touching her anymore, so playing nurse was a pipe dream. She sat up to prove she was awake and watched Kim trot off to the table. She continued to look on as Kim pulled her chair close to Shego, always close to Shego. Shego smiled and leaned over, placing her hand on Kim’s thigh.

Ice blue eyes drifted to the floor. Once upon a time, she was close to her own Possible like Shego was with Kim. Once upon a time, she and Trin were the example for Shego and Kim.

_Maybe this was inevitable. All good things come to an end. I bet it won’t end like this between Shego and Kim, though. Shego’s smart and talkative and strong. She can protect Kim and keep up with her. I can’t do those things with Trin. I never could. She’s probably just been going slow all this time for me,_ Tatsu thought. _How did I ever think I was going be with this amazing woman? There’s nothing amazing about me_.

“Tatsu, are you going to sit?” Trin inquired, taking the mechanic from her thoughts.

Tatsu’s head shot up for her to see tropical eyes locked onto her. She gulped, just feeling those eyes on her made her insides quiver, especially since it was now the only way for her to feel Trin. She quickly took a chair, hoping it would get the eyes off of her.

Trin’s gaze lingered for a moment, but she turned away because the sight of Tatsu now caused an intense ache in her chest. _Why doesn’t she love me anymore?_ Trin did not want to think about it, but it was hard not to. She knew from birth how hard it was to love her. Maybe it was too hard for Tatsu now. She distracted herself from those thoughts by making Tatsu’s plate and then she set Tatsu’s plate down in front of her.

Tatsu focused on her food, fried fish, baked potatoes, and broccoli. She almost had to swallow her tongue to keep from crying at the sight. She had managed to blow a relationship with a woman who was kind enough to cook every meal just the way she liked it. Her potatoes, two of them, covered in butter and ketchup and her broccoli with a liberal coating of cheese. She was losing someone who seemed to care so much about her. Tatsu was in such despair she did not catch how backwards her thoughts were.

“Whoa, blondie, why didn’t I get two baked potatoes like the silent wonder over there?” Shego demanded, pointing at Tatsu. “It can’t be because I’m not fucking you since Tatsu isn’t either,” she joked.

“Fuck you, Shego!” Trin roared and threw a plate at the pale woman.

“Whoa!” Shego ducked just in time and the empty plate crashed against the wall, shattering on impact. “PMS much?” she remarked with an arched eyebrow. _That was close! _She needed the other couple to work through their issues before she died over a joke.

“Sis?” Kim stood up and walked over to the now shaking blond. Kim stood in front of Trin, blocking her view of everyone else. She grabbed Trin’s hands. “Sis, is everything okay?” she asked in a low tone.

“Yeah, I just have this headache right between my eyes,” Trin replied and she took off her glasses in order to massage the bridge of her nose. _Well, I have an ache in several places, but no one needs to know that. This hole in my heart…_ She took a deep breath, not sure what else to do.

“You should go lie down right after we finish eating then. I mean, if it’s getting to you enough for you to throw a plate at Shego over a joke, you know it’s serious,” Kim stated. They all knew it was serious.

Trin nodded in agreement. She was definitely going to go lie down after dinner and maybe even cry. She was not lying about the headache, as sudden as it was, but Shego’s comment got to her because it was so true. She and Tatsu had not had sex since Joss’ arrival. It was grating on her nerves.

The graduate student went back to serving dinner without any other outbursts. She did not bother to look Joss’ way because she did not feel like being judged for her admittedly outlandish behavior. Shego shook it off and started eating while still complaining about her single baked potato. Trin sat down last, on the same side of the table, but not very close to Tatsu.

“Cousin Trin, I been meaning to ask you, where’d you learn to cook so well?” Joss asked after devouring most of her meal. She was pretty sure she had never eaten so good since coming to stay with her cousins. Trin made food like they were at a restaurant every night.

Trin glanced up and all eyes went to Joss. The young teen squirmed in her seat a little, for once not liking that everyone was focused on her when she had asked a question of Trin. Everyone was surprised because Joss had not spoken directly to Trin at any point in her stay, even when needing help with her biology homework; she had asked Kim and begged the redhead to ask Trin about the things that Kim did not understand.

“My mom,” Trin answered with a shrug. Everything she learned about cooking, she learned at the feet of her mother, like so many other things in her life. _Too bad you didn’t learn how to keep a relationship from her_.

“I didn’t know Aunt Anne cooked,” Joss commented.

Trin smiled just a little and only Kim could know why. Joss, though brought up under the notion that Trin was not a Possible and that Anne and James were not really Trin’s parents, the cowgirl had immediately associated Trin’s mother with Anne. It was a step in the right direction, Kim thought as a smile worked its way onto her mouth.

“Yeah, she can cook a little something. Some of the other stuff I’ve learned from Shin’s mother. Lastly, I just experiment now. I’ve got my own guinea pig in Shin, so I just make him eat anything until I perfect it,” Trin explained.

“Good plan,” Joss said. “It paid off. May I have more, please?”

Trin nodded and she went get Joss more food. As Joss dug into her next helping, she started going on about how her classes were going. She grinned all the way through her reports about the courses, the professors, and her new friends. Best of all, she asked questions and made statements to include everyone at the table in her discussion.

“I really think I might go here for college. I mean, I just have to make sure my grades stay high and I do a lot of extracurricular activities. That’s what you did, right, Kim?” Joss asked.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I did,” Kim answered. “I think if your grades are really good, you don’t need to worry about the activities.”

“Is that what happened with you, Trin?” Joss inquired. 

“I had enough activities. I played tennis and did some swimming,” Trin answered. 

“Really? Do you still play sports?”

“No, I don’t,” Trin answered. She had not really been a fan, but her father pushed her to do sports, telling her how she would need something for college. Thankfully, she was in enough shape because of her martial arts that she could do individual sports well enough.

“Shego, did you go to college?” Joss asked curiously.

“Yeah, went and graduated, shockingly enough. In fact, I do believe I have the most and highest degrees here,” Shego said, looking to bait Trin obviously. She had already forgotten about the plate to her head at the beginning of dinner.

“Oh, please, Shego, a masters’ in child development? I wouldn’t blow my nose with that,” Trin replied.

“I wouldn’t blow my nose with bachelors’ you got. Your little four year degree,” the former thief said while flicking her hand in Trin’s direction to dismiss her.

“You know, you’re going to be the first person to call me Doctor Possible when I’m done with this program,” Trin said.

“Blah, blah, blah,” Shego mocked her.

“And which one of us is more published at this table? Who is more respected in their field?” Trin continued.

Shego rolled her eyes. “That’s still not a degree, Possible.”

Tatsu was quiet as they continued on. She thought about how when Trin was done with her schooling, she was going to be a doctor of biochemistry. God, Tatsu barely knew what biochemistry was and her girlfriend was going to hold a PhD in the subject whenever her schooling was done. Trin’s degree had not bothered Tatsu for a while now, but old insecurities wreaked havoc on her brain now.

The conversation went on until Kim’s kimmunicator went off. “What’s the sitch?” she answered while getting up from the table to avoid interrupting the conversation any more than she had already done. Talking continued while she was gone and she came back several minutes later.

“Who was that?” Trin asked as Kim returned sporting a large, happy grin. It could not have been a call to action since Kim was still there and not rushing off to save the world.

“That was Ron. He said he’s going to come through here tomorrow on his way to Middleton,” Kim reported, actually clapping her hands to the news. It would be nice to see him, as it been five months since she enjoyed his company. She did not really get a chance to hang out with him during spring break since he stayed home and she went away. He wanted the time with his parents, which she could understand. He was not a drive away from Middleton like she was.

“He’s coming here to get to Middleton? Where’s he coming from, the Arctic?” Trin inquired with a craned eyebrow.

“I didn’t even bother to ask. He’s not going to stay for too long. He really wants to get to Middleton to see his family,” the redhead informed them.

“So, Ron got you grinning like this?” Shego asked while resting her cheek in her hand.

“Jealous?” Kim teased.

“Hell, no. I’ve seen the grin I can put on your face, after all,” the older woman remarked with a devilish smirk.

Kim laughed a bit and then threw on a fake pout. “Aw, you don’t love me enough to be jealous?”

“No, I’m just that good,” Shego said smoothly.

That line earned Shego a few laughs. The night went well for the most part and everyone retired as they usually did, which meant a tense night of sharing a bed for Trin and Tatsu. They had gotten to the point where they did not even touch in bed, resisting temptation as well as hoping to stave off rejection.

In the bedroom next door, Joss was eager and could not help grinning to herself. Her heart still pounded heavy in her chest from when Kim first announced Ron was going to come tomorrow. She could not want to finally see him again. She hoped he stayed around long enough for her to show him the website that she made of him, she could tell him all about her summer program, and she could tell him what courses she planned to take next year. With luck, he would tell her how everything was going with him. Maybe they could even take a walk together. She knew the neighborhood fairly well now.

With all of the thoughts racing through her mind, Joss barely got any sleep. She crawled out of bed when she heard the light noise in the kitchen, letting her know Trin was up and making breakfast. She glanced at the clock and noted Trin was an hour late and then she remembered it was Friday and there were no classes on Friday.

Joss leaped out of bed and rushed out into the living room as if it was Christmas morning. Unfortunately, there were no presents to be found, only her eldest cousin, working in the kitchen. Pouting, Joss flopped down into a dining room seat.

“Your morning seems to be going as well as mine,” Trin remarked without taking her eyes off of task. She did not give her cousin a chance to answer. “I was thinking of making French toast today. What’s your preference?”

“Um… Can you put whipped cream on it?” Joss requested with a delighted grin. Her mother never allowed her to put whipped cream on breakfast foods. In fact, she was not allowed to have anything sugary until the afternoon.

Trin did not say anything and the silence let Joss know she had not made an impossible request. The young teen did not make any attempts at conversation, nor did the blond. Joss stared at the door, waiting. Trin noticed, but did not say anything, assuming Joss was eager for Kim to arrive.

The teen grinned when she heard keys in the door. Shego and Kim walked in, speaking to each other. They went right to the table and Joss’ face fell when she saw it was just the couple. Shego arched an eyebrow when she saw Joss’ expression. Kim looked just as curious.

“You okay, Joss?” Kim asked.

“I’m fine. I was just wondering when Ron’s gonna show up,” Joss answered without thinking.

Shego was about to say something, but the glare from Kim shut everything down. The pale woman flung herself into her usual seat and found the newspaper waiting as always; Trin abandoned the paper in the same spot every morning. Kim sat down next to her love.

“Ron should be here at about noon. I told him I’d convince Trin to make lunch,” Kim remarked.

“Like hell I’ll make anything for him,” Trin replied.

“Please, sis! We haven’t seen him in a while and I know you miss him as much as I do! You like Ron as much as you like the tweebs, you know you do!” Kim teased, cooing at the end of her statement.

Trin rolled her eyes and decided not to bother with arguing with her little sister. It was like arguing with the police where everything she said would be used against her. Kim grinned in triumph. Shego was about to say something, but continued reading the paper instead of piggybacking on her girlfriend’s success against Trin. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Hold on, I’m coming!” Kim called to the door, knowing who was knocking already just from the rhythm combo going on with the knocks.

Ron almost fell into the apartment as Kim yanked the door open at just the right moment; she obviously timed him to do that on purpose. He laughed, as expected, as did Kim. Then before anyone could even gather what was going on, Ron scooped Kim up into a huge hug.

“K.P, I missed you so much!” the young man shouted to the heavens.

“I missed you too, Ron!” she replied and eagerly returned the hug while grinning like she knew the secrets of the universe. Her heart felt ready to explode with joy because she remembered how just a year ago there was no way he would have received her in such a warm manner.

“Hey, hey, hey, three second rule when it comes to my Kimmie!” Shego called from her seat at the dining room table. She feasted on some cake that she “found” in the fridge. She was fairly certain it was Trin’s, but the eldest Possible had not bitched about it yet, so she continued eating.

“Fine, fine, fine,” Ron conceded with a laugh as he released the redhead, earning a sigh of relief from a young teen in the living room and also a teenager behind him.

As Ron put Kim down, Joss approached, wanting to greet Ron personally. “Hi, Ron,” she said in a coy sort of purr. It was not meant to be suggestive, but her voice did not seem to know what to do in his presence.

“Oh, hey, Joss, long time no see,” Ron replied with a friendly smile as he stepped deeper into the apartment. “I brought someone along with me. I hope it’s no trouble, especially since Trin already knows her.”

“Trin-nee-san,” Yori called into the apartment while stepping in next to Kim and also standing next to Ron.

“Yori-chan? Yori-chan is that you? You know that air-headed sempai of yours told me you’re dating Ron, but I thought he was just doing drugs again,” Trin remarked as she came over to join the greeting. She was not joking about that.

“Oh, sempai already told you that I am dating Ron-kun? Um… you are not angry, are you?” Yori asked in a quiet, almost shy manner while eyeing the floor. 

Trin appeared thoughtful for a moment, which was all the time Joss needed to take in what she heard. Ron was dating the pretty Asian woman standing next to him? Joss was pretty sure all of her vital organs dropped into her feet and she felt like she was going to vomit.

The young teen did not stick around for anything. She bolted for her room, slamming the door extremely hard. She earned curious looks from everyone, but Kim was the only one who thought to approach the room and did.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Joss throws another tantrum and this time says something that everyone is almost certain will get Trin to kill her.


	7. Two Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu, though.

7: Two Steps Back

“It’s no good. She’s not coming out,” Kim announced to the group as she stepped away from the door that led to Joss’ room. The younger teen had escaped into the room moments ago for reasons unknown and obviously Kim had gone after her — mostly because the other ladies were not in the mood to give into Joss’ tantrum.

“Well, let’s not let that spoil the visit,” Trin replied, and then she turned her attention back to Yori and Ron. She motioned toward the living room for them to go and sit down. The couple did not need anything more than that and made themselves comfortable in the common area.

“So, Trin-neesan, are you truly all right with my dating Ron-kun?” Yori inquired curiously with hope shining in her jet black eyes. Everyone knew there was a fifty-fifty chance of Trin shattering that hope like a rock through a glass window.

“I suppose. Shin informed me how he found out about you two and I can’t say I approve of that, but as far as I know, Ronald’s an upstanding young man with only a few character flaws withstanding,” Trin replied as if the whole matter bored her. She doubted anything she could say to Yori would change her mind about Ron and besides, she was not exactly lying. Yori could do much worse than Ron.

“Sorry about that,” Ron apologized with a blush, holding his hands. “But, I promise I haven’t done that since!” he adamantly declared, taking Yori’s hand and giving it a squeeze. She smiled at him.

Ron knew Trin’s opinion mattered a lot to his girlfriend and he wanted to be on Trin’s good side to maintain his relationship. He also knew he had to stay on her good side to maintain his best friendship. Besides, he felt like Shin had a point. He loved Yori and he needed to treat her like the woman he loved. He hoped he had been doing a good job of that.

“You’d better not have,” Trin stated with a glint in her eye that he was very familiar with. He laughed nervously and glanced at Kim to save him. She smiled and had no problem jumping in.

“Oh, Yori, you haven’t met Shego and Tatsu yet, have you?” the redhead inquired while motioning to her girlfriend and then to her sister’s girlfriend.

There were the rounds of introductions. Yori expressed happiness and pride to meet the sisters’ girlfriends, not showing any sign of nervousness or anxiety from meeting the women. It was a nice change.

“You look familiar to me,” Yori said to Shego as they shook hands.

Shego waved it off. “I’ve been on the news a lot.”

Yori’s forehead furrowed. “I do not think that is it, but I cannot place it right now.”

Shego shrugged and Yori decided to let it go. She made sure Tatsu and Shego knew she had heard a lot about them from Shin. She smiled all the way through speaking with them, clearly enjoying the fact that she remembered so much about them and was able to tell them. Shego and Tatsu were polite right back. Shego did not even make a joke about Yori dating Ron and she had plenty of jokes.

Trin mused it seemed like Yori had spent her whole life around lesbians, which was very reassuring. It helped soothe the blond a bit, reminding her that she meant a lot to Yori, enough for the ninja to be comfortable with things she was very much not used to. She was also silently thankful Shin had spoken to Yori about their girlfriends.

“Where is Shin-sempai?” Yori asked curiously while scanning the apartment. There was no sign of her mentor.

“He’s spending the summer with his boyfriend,” Trin answered.

“May God have mercy on Booker’s soul,” Shego remarked with a hearty laugh. She did the sign of the Cross.

“So, Shin really is gay, huh?” Ron asked as if he had not thought such a thing was possible. Really, he had thought it was an act just for Shin to come across more off the wall than he already did and bring more attention to himself. Sometimes, Shin’s flamboyant behavior just seemed a little _too_ over the top.

“With him dating Booker we might be able to argue otherwise,” Shego joked, earning laughs from all of those who had seen Booker.

“Please, tell me you have pictures,” Yori said.

“It’s unfortunate that we do,” Trin replied as she pulled out her phone.

The atmosphere lightened as Yori looked at pictures of Shin with Booker, never once making it seem weird. They were able to have a good conversation, everyone just catching up on each other. Tatsu was expectedly silent, even when Yori tried to learn more about her; Yori wanted to know everything about “Trin-neesan’s” lover. Tatsu was her usual, mumbling, evasive self.

“Trin, I didn’t know you knew Yori,” Kim commented, trying to save Tatsu now by shifting Yori’s direct attention.

“Yes, that secret ninja school no one’s supposed to know anything about is one of the many places Shin trained. He was Yori’s sempai,” Trin answered. Sometimes, she was not sure if that was good luck or poor luck for Yori. He took his job of mentoring her as seriously as he took anything else.

“Yeah, well, that explains how he knows her, but not you. Outsiders aren’t welcomed and all of that. I remember,” Kim pointed out. She had been rebuffed quite a few times in trying to go. It wounded her pride, especially now that she knew her sister had been there, more than once from the sound of things.

The older Possible smiled a little and shrugged. “We always look at rules as mere suggestions and following them sometimes are merely formalities. There was little consideration of those suggestions. The world is very small, though. Yori-chan dating Ron…”

“Believe it or not, Trin-neesan, Ron is a master of monkey kung-fu and is studying ninjitsu at Yamanouchi. Perhaps one day you would like to spar with him. You may inform me if I teach as well as sempai,” Yori entreated, pretty much beaming. Her eyes practically implored Trin spare with Ron and Trin was already considering the request thanks to that look.

“Whoa! I don’t think I’m that good yet!” Ron objected with a nervous laugh while flailing his arms in front of him, as if trying to wipe that request right out of the air. Was Yori trying to get him murdered, his mind demanded to know. He had seen Trin and Shin fight. He did not want any parts of that, especially in a sparring match. They did not seem to know what “sparring” meant.

“Why? Trin-neesan is a very good sparring partner. I used to spar with her all of the time and I am sure Kim-san did the same,” Yori said while motioning to the hero, who nodded in confirmation.

“Well, she’s your sisters,” Ron argued with a nervous laugh. In the past, he would not have thought that would stop Trin from hurting them, but he understood now what Trin would do for those she considered her family and what she would do for those she assumed responsibility over. He did not think he fell into those categories.

“Sisters?” Tatsu echoed in a low voice while making sure to keep her interest in the floor obvious. She wondered if she had been left out of the loop in something else in her beloved’s life. Was Trin somehow related to Yori? _What else don’t I know about her?_

“Ron-kun, you shouldn’t try to put me in the same category with Kim. Trin-neesan is my close sempai, but she is Kim’s sister,” the ninja countered, wagging her finger at him. She was very close to Trin, but she did not like being put on the same level of Kim, knowing the redhead was extremely important and special to Trin in ways no other woman could ever be.

“Your relationship with her is special, too,” Kim said, wanting to acknowledge whatever bond Yori had with Trin to show she was not bothered, even though things were a little irksome. First, Trin got to go into the secret ninja school without her and now she had some special relationship with another teenager.

“Please, don’t make me barf,” Shego groaned.

Kim rolled her eyes. “Fine. Ron, maybe you should spar with one of us.” She motioned between herself, Trin, and Shego. Ron lost all color from his face.

The conversation strayed from sparring when Shego decided it was lunchtime and Trin needed to get to cooking; her exact words were much more colorful. In fact, her words were so colorful that Trin took a swing at her. It was a playful shot that Shego easily avoided, but a shot nonetheless. They ordered out instead of Trin cooking because she did not normally make lunch and she was not going to change that just because Ron and Yori were visiting. It was not a surprise, despite how much Trin liked Yori.

“You still cook, Trin?” Ron asked, not even thinking about how casually he was addressing the woman who he viewed as the anti-Christ for most of his life. The atmosphere made it possible.

“I do, more often than I used to,” she confirmed. There was something about having Kim around that made her cook more. Maybe because she would let Shin starve if she felt like it, but she could never do that to Kim.

“Do you bake? I’ve been trying to find new recipes because I want to keep baking, but I haven’t had any luck in finding new stuff that I actually want to eat,” Ron explained.

Trin started naming some of the international baked goods while Ron listened, taking mental notes for everything she said. Kim smiled to herself, seeing how Ron was interacting with her big sister. She hoped it was the start of a new relationship for them since she knew Trin really loved Ron, but Ron stopped noticing it at some point in his life. He should notice again. Everyone needed as much love as they could in their lives.

Shego was able to engage Yori in conversation, mostly trying to find out what the hell the ninja saw in Ron. Yori appeared more amused than insulted and easily ran through all of Ron’s admirable attributes and the things she liked about him, which were things she knew made most people view him as a bit of a dork. Shego was still baffled over the appeal because, yeah, she thought he was a dork. Secretly, Tatsu was in agreement with Shego from what she was hearing about Ron.

“Are you sure you’ve dated enough people to say you love this guy?” Shego jabbed her thumb in Ron’s direction.

“Hey!” Ron glared at her.

“You’re currently swapping recipes with Trin, Betty Crocker. You’re going to tell me you’re cool?” Shego asked.

Ron did not have a defense for that, but was saved from having to reply when the food showed up. Kim went to check on Joss, thinking she might be hungry. She knocked on the door. “Joss, lunch is here,” she called through the door.

“Not hungry,” Joss grumbled loud to be heard by her cousin.

“Are you sure?” Kim pressed in a worried tone. She wanted the younger woman to join them. She seemed to be getting along great with everyone for the past couple of weeks and she wanted that to continue. It was nice to know her cousin did not hate her, after all.

“Yes, now leave me alone,” Joss ordered in a harsh tone, reminding Kim of how she was the first day she arrived.

Kim stepped back from the door for a moment and had the brief thought of kicking it down. The thought was quickly banished from her head as she realized her chest hurt. That familiar ache of family rejection spread through her torso like venom, constricting her breathing and paining her muscles. _Calm down. She didn’t say anything bad_. Still, just the hiss was enough to send her mind back to Joss thinking the worst of her and she hated how much it hurt. It burned in ways acid would envy. She retreated back into the safety of the living room.

“Kimmie, you okay?” Shego inquired as her girlfriend sat down next to her. She put her arms around Kim right after she asked the question because the answer was obvious to her.

“I’m fine,” Kim replied in a low voice while reaching for a slice of pizza. They had ordered a couple of pizza pies because Ron said it had been a while since he had any. Yori had only had pizza once in her life, so that settled it. Pizza, cheesy bread, and buffalo wings was as good a lunch as any.

“What did Joss say to you?” Trin inquired as she cut her eyes toward the door that hid Joss from the world. Just when she thought the summer might go by and she would not have to deal her cousin a beating, Joss might have done something to make her reconsider.

“Nothing, nothing. She just doesn’t want to be bothered right now for whatever reason,” Kim answered in a dismissive tone. A light flick of her wrist caused her hand to wave everything off and the other hand held her pizza securely. She leaned into her girlfriend as she started to eat, seeking comfort in the warm, firm body next to her.

“She’s pissed Ron showed up here with a girlfriend,” Shego teased, laughing a bit as she grabbed her own slice.

“Oh, right. Joss does have that crush on you, Ron,” Kim said and she actually felt just a little better about herself. Joss was not upset with her, but with the fact that Ron had a girlfriend. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Joss has a crush on me?” Ron was incredulous and the fact that he asked that before eating his slice added to it. He craved pizza, but he really wanted to know more about this crush thing first. “Since when does Joss have a crush on me?”

“Yeah, she’s got a thing for you and I think it goes from when she first met you. She made you a website and everything,” the hero explained to her best friend.

“Boo-ya! Soon I’ll have as many hits as you,” Ron cheered with a grin. He pointed at Kim, who rolled her eyes.

There was a small round of laughter and things with Joss seemed to be forgotten. They all figured she needed to sulk a bit, but would eventually come around. They continued on their conversation and finished the pizzas, wings, and bread. Kim saved a couple of slices of Joss just in case she got hungry before dinner was made. Afterward, Ron checked his watch and figured they needed to get going since they wanted to make it to Middleton before dark.

“You’ll make it with plenty of sunlight to spare,” Kim pointed out.

“Unless of course he’s going to Middleton via the coastline. Ronald, Yori, where were you for this to be a stop on a trip to Middleton?” Trin inquired in a bland tone. She suspected Ron was taking Yori on a country tour, which she hated to admit — even to herself — was cute and romantic.

“We’re just sort of on a road trip. We got time off from training and I figured I’d show Yori as much of the United States as I could since she showed me as much of Japan as she could the last time we had a break,” Ron explained.

The Possibles nodded; both approving of that idea. Ron grinned, his expression was somewhere between proud and sheepish. Yori smiled, too, and she took Ron’s hand.

“I am having a good time seeing so much of the country. His theme has been food,” Yori said.

Kim laughed. “Of course it has. The pinnacle of American culture.” She expected nothing less of Ron, but she wished he took Yori’s interests into consideration rather than his own.

Trin sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Just when I dared to have hope.”

“Again, you sure you’ve dated enough guys yet?” Shego asked the ninja, who merely wrapped her arms around Ron’s arm.

“Let me go see if Joss wants to at least say goodbye to you,” Kim said and she went back to the young teen’s room for a third time. “Joss, Ron’s leaving, so if you want to talk to him or say goodbye or anything, you have to come do it now.”

“I don’t care,” Joss answered with a huff.

“Joss, come on! Stop being such a baby and come out here and give Ron a proper goodbye instead of throwing a tantrum,” Kim snapped with a little edge in her voice. She thought it might help to remind Joss that throwing a tantrum was her old behavior and she had changed so much, for the better.

“I’m not being a baby and I don’t wanna talk to him! So get the hell away from my door, you goddamn queer! I didn’t know you were hard of hearing along with being a damn deviant,” Joss replied.

Kim backed away as if she had been shot. She turned to see if anyone else heard the outburst, but saw everyone was centered by the front door and too far to hear the shout. She swallowed down all of the hurt and pain caused by her cousin’s tone and words before she went back over to the group. She smiled brightly before saying anything.

“The brat didn’t want to come out?” Shego inquired when Kim returned, standing close to her in a way that Shego knew she needed to put her arm around the redhead’s waist. The green-skinned woman knew “the brat” had done something to her girlfriend again. She started to wonder if she was going to have to put Joss over her knee for her to start acting civilized.

“No, she’s still throwing a tantrum, just like you guys said,” the hero answered with a sheepish grin and shrug. Her stomach flipped thanks to the slight movement. She wondered if it would ever stop hurting when Joss lashed out at her.

“No big,” Shego remarked, even though she could tell it was. Kim was practically cuddled into her, as if her body heat could heal whatever wound Joss inflicted.

“Sorry, Ron,” Kim said.

“Yeah, we could just spin by here again when we’re done with the road trip. Joss might be willing to talk to me by then. I hope she kinda gets over it,” Ron said with rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. Yes, it was flattering for a girl to like him, but he was very committed to Yori and would never do anything to jeopardize his relationship with her, especially with Joss. After all, she was way too young and she was a Possible for crying out loud! He would like to be friends with Joss, but that was about it.

“Trust me, you’re not all that,” Trin deadpanned. She actually worried Joss nursed a crush on Ron for this long.

“Trin,” Kim scolded her sister.

“Really, I only said it to beat Shego from saying it. No sense in her having the last line now is there?” the blond smirked at Shego like the demon most people believed she was.

Shego gave Trin the finger. “It’s not like he won’t set himself up for another insult the very second I see him again.”

Goodbyes were said and there were hugs. The farewell took almost an half-hour for Ron and Yori to make it out of the door. There were invitations extended to both of them to come back soon from the Possible sisters. Trin only mentioned Yori in her invitation, but Kim assured her best friend Trin meant him as well. Trin did not dispute that, but she also looked away. When the couple was gone, back to their life on the road for the summer, eyes of the apartment residents turned to the closed door of Shin’s room.

“Let’s just leave her to sulk. We can watch a movie or something,” Shego suggested. She was sick of giving into Joss’ clear need for attention. They needed to let Joss understand her behavior was not going to be rewarded, nor were they going to cave into her prejudice and change their lives for her.

“Shego, I think you just used up your one good thought you were allotted in life,” Trin commented.

Shego growled and made a fist, but she noticed Kim watching her. She sighed and shrugged, giving up for the moment. Kim did not need the fighting, no matter how playful it was.

They all flopped down onto the sofa and began to watch a movie that they let Kim pick, which meant three of them would be bored to tears. Shego chased the boredom away by drawing invisible lines on Kim’s thigh with her index finger. Trin and Tatsu passed the time wondering why they were on opposite ends of the sofa instead of curled up together like Kim and Shego. They never came up with an adequate answer and remained where they were.

“Princess, no more picks for you.,” Shego said before the movie was even over.

“You know you like it,” Kim replied with a smile.

“I like the ways I get to kill time.” She buried her nose in Kim’s neck and peppered the area with light kisses. Kim giggled and snuggled in for more.

They watched a second movie, which was more suitable for all of their tastes. This helped Trin and Tatsu chase off some unwanted thoughts and ignore the other couple in the room, but it was not enough. Eventually, Trin tore herself off the couch, silently deciding it was time to start dinner and get away from the tangible rift between her and her sweetheart.

Kim watched her sister leave, noting the tension in her every step. She glanced at Tatsu, thinking the mechanic would be on her feet in an instant, trying to find out what was wrong with Trin, but that was not the case. Tatsu did not move from her spot, staring blankly at the television from the edge of the couch. Her brow was wrinkled slightly from her own tension while her eyes made it seem like nothing was happening in her head, nothing at all.

The redhead was about to say something, but she was not sure what to say. She knew there was something going on with her sister and Tatsu, but she was not sure if it was her place to address it. Shego pulled Kim closer to her before the hero could open her mouth.

“Let them work it out on their own, Pumpkin,” Shego whispered before stealing a kiss.

Kim nodded and focused back on the movie. She did not move until dinner was done and she took it upon herself to go get Joss, knowing no one else would. She knocked on the door and braced for impact.

“Goddamn it! Didn’t I say I don’t want to talk to any of you queers! Stop bothering me! I’m sick of all of you!” Joss hollered.

“Dinner—” Kim tried to explain while swallowing down the continued burn that came from being screamed at by someone who just last year wanted to be exactly like her and just a day ago was thinking about majoring in mathematics like her. How could everything go so wrong so fast?

“I don’t want dinner from deviants! You’re all horrible, horrible people!” Joss replied.

“Now, just a second!” Kim said, letting her righteous indignation finally take over. Her sister was already going through something, so she was not about to let Joss possibly make Trin feel even worse by acting up in her home. Kim tried to open the door, only to find it was still locked. She did not let that stop her, though, and just kicked in the door.

Joss, shocked by the turn of events, sat up in bed and glared at Kim like the redhead was the worst person on Earth. Kim felt that for some reason, Joss thought she was the worst person on Earth. She wondered what happened between last night and now to cause such a change.

“I don’t know what crawled up your ass, but I’m not going to let you just say anything you want to me or about any of the people I care about,” Kim proclaimed, feeling some sense of pride returning because she did not deserve any of the hostility coming her way from her cousin and that finally sunk in for her. Joss could throw a tantrum all she wanted, but Kim did not have to take it. Her feelings mattered just as much as Joss’.

Joss flinched for a moment and then shot up off of the bed. She stormed over to Kim, keeping sharp eye contact with the hero. A hurricane raged in Joss’ dark, deep green eyes. Kim did not back off, feeling her own storm inside of her.

Joss unloaded both barrels at once. “What crawled up my ass is having to stay with four sexual perverts because they ruined my home and ranch and my dad couldn’t afford to send me to stay in the dorms with normal people! Instead, I gotta stay with three sociopaths who might rape me in the middle of the night, and who have already fucked up your head! You don’t even realize how totally screwed up you really are! You let them take you into a world where you’re going to start touching kids and probably fuck animals!”

“One thing doesn’t lead to the others. You sound ridiculous. Just because I love a woman doesn’t make me a deviant,” Kim huffed with a determined glare in her eyes.

Joss had to show she still had some ammunition left. “Yes, it does! You’re a sick weirdo, just like your sister!” Joss declared, jabbing her finger in Kim’s direction.

Kim felt another stab of pain tear through her body. She lurched as if she had been hit in the stomach and she felt like she might throw up. No one, not even her fourteen year old cousin, got to talk about her sister like that. She opened her mouth to say something — _anything! _— to defend her sister, but her mouth refused. Her mind decided, _fuck words!_ Joss needed a lesson that only a foot in the ass could teach, but Kim’s foot was not cooperating with that idea. Instead, her body trembled with indecision because Joss was still Joss, her fourteen-year-old little cousin who used to look up to her, who used to love her, and who she still loved.

“What the hell is going on over here?” Trin demanded to know as she blazed over to the scene like a forest fire. She would be damned if she was going to let anyone talk to her little sister like that, especially in her own home!

“Nothing, just trying to set Kimmie straight on a few things,” Joss sneered.

“You’re not going to be in my home, saying whatever the hell comes to mind to my sister just because your little crush went and got himself a grown girlfriend,” Trin snapped while folding her arms across her chest, set for battle it would seem.

Joss rose to the challenge set before her and snarled. “You’re going to come in here and try to play the hero? You’re the one who did this to Kim! She was perfectly normal and I bet she would’ve stayed that way if you weren’t her sister!”

Trin rolled her eyes. “You’ve been listening to your grandmother too much, little girl. Why don’t you take a moment to act your age and we can talk this out like we have working brains?”

Joss scoffed and stomped her foot. “Don’t try to act all superior! You think you’re hot shit because you get such great grades and you’re in this brilliant program, but you’re only trying to cover up the fact that you’re nothing! You’re just the abandoned child of drug addicts with a stupid girlfriend that you’re not even smart enough to make happy! That’s all you’ll ever be! You’re not a Possible, you’re just a mistake! A mistake and a monster that no one wants around, not even your own idiot girlfriend!”

A lump clogged Trin’s throat and her heart contracted in on itself. She tried her best to tell herself those words did not affect her, did not bother her, but the acidic burning that felt like it expanded from her soul belied that fact. She knew the words she just heard were the feelings of the entire Possible family, excluding her mother, father, siblings, and Uncle Slim. That was how the Possible clan thought of her. Hell, that was what the world thought of her.

Adding to that insult, Joss dared to notice the troubles she had with Tatsu and threw them in her face. Her body tensed to the point that a vein in her neck was visible and throbbing. _How dare this little bitch say anything about my relationship? How did this little bitch call my baby stupid?_

“Trin…” Kim said when she saw how badly her sister trembled. “She’s our cousin, Trin. She’s Uncle Slim’s little girl,” the redhead reminded her sister. “She’s only fourteen years old…”

Shego and Tatsu stood in the background, certain they were about to witness a murder. They both tried to figure out the perfect place to hide a body and mentally worked on alibis while waiting for Trin to wail on the youngest Possible like she had never done before.

Joss shrank just a little as Trin’s body flexed and her hand lifted into the air. The blond let out a primal, animalistic scream, and then shocked the whole apartment. Her fist flew and Joss gasped. Trin put her hand through the wall, missing Joss’ head by less than a centimeter.

Panting, Trin snapped her fist free, with spots of drywall dropping from her knuckles. Joss was cemented to the floor. Trin blinked and then fled out of the door, slamming it as hard as possible in her wake, knocking several pictures off of the walls.

“Trin!” Tatsu called instinctively and rushed to the door, trying to follow her lover. By the time she hit the front door of the building, she could already see Trin’s car disappearing down the block. “Damn it…” She pulled at her hair, wondering what the hell just happened. She had never seen Trin run from a challenge like that and she had never expected Trin would not run to her if a shoulder was needed. She was supposed to be there for Trin. _I really am useless…_

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Trin runs to the only person she thinks can help while Kim and Shego hold Tatsu back from getting to Joss. Special guest: Trin’s birth mother.


	8. Miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. Okay, I do own Trin and Tatsu.
> 
> A/N: Some events referenced in this chapter go back to the story “Underdogs” in case you want to go back and refresh your memory.

8: Miracle 

“You didn’t have any right to talk to her like that!” Tatsu barked as she stormed back into the apartment, zeroing right in on Joss.

The look in Tatsu’s cold blue eyes was definitely one of bloody murder, but Joss did not seem to recognize the gaze because she did not make a move to escape the area. Joss was honestly still rooted to the spot from her close call with Trin. Her heart was in her throat and a lone bead of sweat slid down her cheek. Tatsu was about to rip into the young teen, take her apart piece by piece, but was held back by Kim.

“Lemme go, Trin-clone!” Tatsu snarled, voice laced with rage and eyes clouded by pain and hatred.

“I can’t let you kill my cousin!” Kim replied while struggling with the wild mechanic, who put her all into getting to Joss.

Shego had to come in and help, even though she really just wanted to let Tatsu go and do the job that Trin was not able to do. Someone needed to teach Joss that she could not say whatever outrageous thing came to mind because life was not going perfect for her. Someone needed to teach Joss words, like actions, had consequences, but Shego could not let Tatsu hurt Kim in the process of trying to teach Joss that lesson.

“Then your cousin needs to watch her fucking mouth! She comes in here, takes all she can like a fucking baby and throws a goddamn tantrum like she knows shit and then expects no one’s going to fucking beat her ass for her bullshit!” Tatsu growled like an enraged beast, hot, angry tears gathering in her eyes. She was going to kill that fucking kid if Joss just cost her Trin!

“Tatsu, hurting Joss isn’t going to fix anything! She’s just as upset as the rest of us!” Kim pointed out.

“I don’t give a fuck! Being upset doesn’t give her a right to hurt Trin!” Tatsu bellowed, trying to claw her way to the fourteen-year-old.

“I’ve got to say, this is the most energy I’ve ever seen out of this sloth,” Shego remarked while trying her best to yank Tatsu down to the ground and keep the mechanic pinned there. The struggle gave her a good idea of how strong Tatsu really was. The mechanic’s muscles were not for show, apparently, and she probably did not use close to her real power when they sparred.

The fact that Tatsu could not get to her, but was trying seemed to snap Joss out of her stupor. She had the nerve to stare Tatsu down, like she could take Tatsu if Kim and Shego decided to let go or even lost their grip on her a little. Joss was about to play with fire.

“What do you even care? She doesn’t like you any more than the rest of us,” Joss sneered at Tatsu, speaking as if she knew everything that was going on with everyone. Those were the wrong words to say to Tatsu.

“AH!” Tatsu tried to take a dive at Joss, wanting to just beat the living shit out of the teenager.

Kim and Shego managed to drag Tatsu to the floor, piling on her, keeping her from attacking Joss. Shego locked her legs around Tatsu’s to prevent her from getting up before Kim and Shego were ready. Kim then turned to glare at her cousin, who had the nerve to be standing as if a bolt of lightning could not hurt her. Kim could not believe what she was looking at.

“Go in the room before she gets loose!” Kim ordered with a fire in her eyes. Hell, she was tempted to get off of Tatsu right now and let the mechanic have a go at the kid for her bravado alone.

Joss, finally sensing the danger she stirred up, retreated to her room. Kim and Shego remained on Tatsu until they heard the door shut, even though it technically could not close anymore thanks to Kim. Joss must have put something in front of the door to keep it shut and once it seemed secure, Kim figured it was safe to let Tatsu go. As soon as they got off of her, Tatsu rushed the door and punched it as hard as she could. They were surprised her hand did not go through the wood.

“Little bitch!” Tatsu roared as she gave the door another hit. Blood dripped from her battered knuckles, showing how hard she had hit the wood. When she calmed down, they would have to check and make sure she did not break her hand.

“Tatsu, please, just leave her alone,” Kim pled, but she did not go anywhere near Tatsu. She knew the mechanic was not going to want her close, not after she just stood in the way of Tatsu getting revenge for her lover.

Suddenly, Tatsu did something more shocking than trying to attack Joss. She slid to the floor and tears started flowing from her eyes. Her shoulders shook with the subtle hint of weeping and low noises escaped her, sounding anguished and tormented. Kim and Shego stood back, gawking in stunned silence. They looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something.

“Tats…” Shego started, but she ceased, not sure what she should say. She did not like dealing with crying people. One of the great things about hanging out with this crew was the low crying/whining factor.

“She’s gonna leave me. I just know it. What made me think I could have a fucking genius beauty queen? She’s gonna leave me…” Tatsu bailed, speaking aloud, but to herself. She sounded so helpless and small that it broke Kim’s heart.

“Tatsu, sis loves you more than anyone ever before and you know that. Why would you think she’s going to leave you?” Kim managed to ask. It would explain some of the discomfort around the apartment, especially after Joss got settled in. But, she could not for the life of her come up with a reason for why her sister would leave Tatsu. They were so in love it even grossed her out sometimes.

“She is. It’s coming,” Tatsu mumbled as she picked herself up off of the floor. “Sorry I acted so stupid…” She wiped her face with the back of her hand, but it did not help. She was flushed and there snot dripped from her nose down to her lip.

“Tatsu, it’s okay. I promise you Trin isn’t going to leave you. She would never—” Kim did not get a chance to finish as the mechanic held up her hand to cut the hero off.

“She will. She has to,” Tatsu replied with such grim finality that Kim’s heart stopped and broke all over again. Shego could only stare. Yes, she noticed the couple had their problems recently, but she did not think it was so serious Trin might leave Tatsu. She could not even piece that together in her head.

Tatsu took the moment of silence as a chance to retreat into Trin’s bedroom. The mechanic threw herself on the bed, inhaling deeply to allow her senses to be assaulted by the heavenly scent of her beloved. She was so certain she would never smell that wonderful aroma again, so she wanted to get her fill now. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought the world as she knew it was coming to an end. For her, the world was coming to an end.

“Never a dull moment around here,” Shego muttered to herself while shaking her head.

“What the hell was any of that?” Kim wondered aloud. For once, Shego did not have an answer. 

-8-8-8-8-

Trin drove on autopilot, nothing in the outside world registered to her brain. Her mind whirled like a spinning top. How had her relationship gotten so bad that a pest like Joss was able to see the cracks in it? Things had to be just short of disastrous if a fourteen-year-old who barely knew her could see she and Tatsu were having problems. And then to make it worse, Joss had to throw it right in her face like a glass of acid. And, oh, did it burn, all the way through her heart and into her soul.

Then, to pile it all on, she had to be reminded the Possible family thought she was a deviant, a criminal, and probably Satan’s spawn, despite the fact that she had never done anything to them. God, all she ever wanted was a family that loved her for who she was, but even the Possibles could not find it in themselves to love her. If her family could not love her, how could she expect Tatsu to love her? She was nothing more than a trinket, to be used and thrown away.

She could not understand how she had become such a thing. Was she born that way? What about her was so distasteful that a family known for its intelligence and heroism denounced her father for taking her home? It never made any sense to her. She could not figure it out. Why was _she_ so wrong?

Such thoughts roared through her mind all the way through her trip to nowhere. It was not until she saw the familiar “Welcome to Middleton” sign did she realize where her instincts were taking her. She drove up to her parents’ house, but noticed there was only one car in the driveway, so she did not stop. She knew exactly where she had to go.

-8-8-8-8-

The sterile smell and white walls slammed into Trin’s system when she stepped through the hospital doors. The emotions and feelings that ripped through her were a mix for a moment. Her last few trips to hospitals did not hold good memories, but they did not conquer the years of wonderful memories Trin had coming to the hospital to watch her mother work, healing not just broken bodies, but minds, souls, and families. _My mother — the miracle worker_.

Flashing smiles and kind greetings came Trin’s way as hands pointed her where they all knew she needed to be. She smiled her thanks to all the helpful staff and waved to anyone who greeted her. She found her mother standing in a room with a chart in her hands. Trin entered, not realizing the neurosurgeon was in with a patient.

“Oh, sorry, Mom,” Trin said when she saw the little body in the hospital bed.

Anne’s head whipped up at the sound of her eldest child’s voice. A bright smile quickly took over her face and she wrapped her daughter into a loving hug. Trin sighed as she returned the embrace, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders for a little while. They then stepped away from each other, playfully sizing each other up.

“What are you doing here?” Anne inquired, still smiling so brightly that the sun was going to be jealous when it rose in the morning.

“I wanted to see you. I didn’t realize you were working late tonight, though. I drove by the house and didn’t see your car, so I knew you had to be here. Who’s this?” Trin countered and then she turned to see the patient fully.

The blond then felt like she was smacked in the face when she caught sight of who was lying in bed. The soft, cherubic face of the ebony-haired boy asleep in the bed was too familiar. She knew exactly where she had seen him.

“Mom, is this your patient?” Trin said, forgetting she already asked who he was. Why was _he_ her mother’s patient?

“Yes, this is my patient. Eight years old with a brain tumor,” Anne answered and shook her head slightly in despair.

“Is he…?” Trin could not even finish the question. The words could not work their way around the lump in her throat. Her eyes stayed focused on his tanned cheeks, dark from playing outside in the sun and his Greek heritage, from his father’s side. Just the fact that he was in that bed showed how cruel and unfair life was. _Maybe it’s in our blood_.

Anne blinked, sensing her daughter’s curiosity and despair for the boy himself and not for knowledge about medical procedure. Usually, when Trin asked about patients, she was only looking to learn more about medicine, but this time was different and that was clear from the look in her eyes, clouded with sorrow. Anne considered it might be because the boy was so young.

“The tumor is operable,” Anne stated as she placed his chart back where it needed to be. She wanted to focus completely on Trin for a moment.

“So, when will you operate?” Trin asked, not realizing her voice was not the calm, monotone that it typically was. It was deeper, heavy with emotions she did not understand. She did not really know this child, yet she felt for him, felt for his plight, felt for what might be a shared curse.

A sad smile worked its way onto Anne’s face. “That’s a good question, my dear. One I don’t have the answer to yet.”

A pale forehead wrinkled. “Why not?”

“Right now, things are proving my profession is more a business than anything else.” Anne shook her head and shoved her hands into the pockets of her lab coat.

“Insurance problems?” Trin guessed with a slight frown. Anne nodded and blue eyes focused on the sleeping child. Trin shook her head.

“But, I’m sure you didn’t travel all this way to talk about my patient,” Anne commented, purposely changing the subject because of the troubled look in her daughter’s eyes, a different trouble from the one that was there when she came in.

“No, I didn’t,” the graduate student answered in a nearly distracted tone while focusing on the boy again. Was cancer in her family history? She did not know and it had not occurred to her that it might be there because she rarely even caught colds. There was so much that she did not know, she realized.

“Trin, I’m sure there’s a reason you came to see me,” Anne stated, trying her best to get the conversation away from a topic that was obviously bothering Trin.

“Yes, there is. It can wait until later. I’ll catch you at home,” the blond said, suddenly realizing she needed to get out of the room as quickly as possible. She had hoped things were different for him, that his life was better than the one she would have led, but even with different circumstances, life still screwed him over. She wanted to punch something for him.

The doctor nodded. “That sounds like a reasonable idea.”

Trin nodded, too, and turned away from the still figure in the bed. Just as she was leaving the room, she bumped shoulders with a blond woman who was entering. Trin clearly apologized, but did not lift her head. She continued walking as the woman stopped and stared at her back.

“Excuse me?” the woman called after Trin, but Trin did not bother to stop. The woman’s brow furrowed as she turned around and went into the room.

“Mrs. Miklos, you really should go home and get some sleep,” Anne said to the frazzled blond woman as she picked up the chart again.

“I can’t. Could you sleep if this was your son in bed?” the woman countered as her eyes settled on the bed of the sleeping child.

Anne let loose a small, sorrowful smile. “I suppose you have me there. I’m glad I could at least talk you into getting something to eat.”

She shook her head. “You were right, which I guess I should expect from a doctor.”

“Yet you won’t take my advice and go home to your bed for a few hours.”

Mrs. Miklos shook her head and changed the subject. “Who was the young lady that just left? She looked familiar to me.”

Anne’s eyes drifted back down to the chart in her hands, trying to get back into her professional mode, but found it a little difficult now. Like Mrs. Miklos was worried over her son, Anne was concerned with her daughter. Something clearly happened to Trin and Anne wanted to help sort that out. Unfortunately, it would have to wait until after she argued to try and get this child his operation again.

“That was my daughter. She used to come around the hospital a lot when she was younger, but now that she’s all grown up and in college, I’m lucky to see her on the holidays,” Anne explained with a fond smile.

Mrs. Miklos, nodded and an even more sorrowful expression overcame her face. “I have a daughter, too. She’s probably in college and everything now.”

“Oh, really?” Anne asked as she looked up while placing the chart back where it belonged. She fixed her eyes on the worried mother before her and noticed something for the first time. She blinked hard, but then shook it away, thinking the notion that just entered her mind was more than likely due to the fact that she saw two blondes of similar heights back to back. But, it seemed like more than that as she stared at Mrs. Miklos more closely.

“Yeah. She doesn’t keep in touch…” Mrs. Miklos sighed and hung her head.

“That’s too bad.” It could be more than that, but Anne did not pry.

“It’d hurt so much to lose another one…” Mrs. Miklos murmured as she turned her tired, pale blue eyes back to her sleeping son.

“I promise you, that won’t happen. This time next month the only thing he’ll be complaining about is the haircut we have to give him,” Anne vowed with a warm smile. She was going to save this boy’s life one way or the other. One way might be easier than the other, but it was going to happen.

Mrs. Miklos could not help smiling in return. “Thank you so much, Doctor Possible. What a time for ‘Dros to get laid off, huh?” Even though she had a smile on her face, stressful tears clouded her eyes.

Anne put her hand on Mrs. Miklos’ shoulder to offer support. “It happens to the best of us, but I didn’t become a doctor to haggle over prices. I’m here to save lives and I _will_ save his. He made me promise to do this as soon as I can, so he can catch the fishing trip with his father and brother.”

Mrs. Miklos laughed and nodded. “They do all love to fish. I honestly don’t understand the charm in it, but it’s nice they can bond over it.” There was a moment of silence and a thought raced across her mind. “Doctor Possible, what’s your daughter’s name?”

“Hmm? Well, I have two. The elder one, that’s the one who just left, her name is Trin and my other daughter is Kim.”

“Trin?” Mrs. Miklos echoed, brow furrowing for a moment. “It’s a strange name.”

“It’s unique. Much like she is and she loves it.” Anne now found herself curious. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

“My daughter? I named her Trinket, but she never liked the name much.” 

The redhead nodded and steered the conversation away from daughters because it was causing a discomforting sensation to scratch its way through her. She did not even want to think about that right now. Her mind had trouble letting go of a disturbing idea all its own, though. She needed to stay focused if she was going to save the little boy in bed, so she forced herself to stop thinking about anything beyond her job as a doctor. And, when she got home, she had a job to do as a mother, so she could not allow fanciful theories distract her at the moment. 

-8-8-8-8-

Anne came home well past midnight, expecting the house to be asleep. Trin surprised her by being in the kitchen, waiting with two mugs of tea at the table. Anne eased in, sitting opposite her daughter. Trin slid one of the mugs over to the tired doctor. There was steam coming from the cup. 

“It’s peppermint,” the blond said in a low voice.

“Thank you.” Anne sipped the hot liquid and relaxed as the beverage flowed through her.

“Mom,” Trin’s voice remained low and sounded just a little shaky. “Are you sure that little boy’s going to be okay?”

Anne’s gaze drifted into her tea. “If I can get in there sometime soon, he’ll be fine.” If she had her way, she would operate before the week was out, regardless of what everyone else told her. She would just have to deal with the fallout, which probably would not be much of a problem. It was not like the hospital would fire her for saving a child’s life. Beyond that, she brought in patients from all over the world, many of them wealthy, so the hospital board probably would rather not get on her bad side or she could relocate to another hospital.

Trin wrapped her hands around her mug and rested them there for a long moment. “How is it he doesn’t have any insurance? Don’t his parents have jobs?”

“His father was laid off from work not too long ago, so they lost his insurance. His mother’s job… well, her insurance won’t be able to cover this operation. He will be fine, though,” she tried to assure her daughter.

Trin took in that information and chewed on it briefly. “Mom… I’m going to say something right now and I need you to not ask me any questions. Just answer one simple question for me and then go right along with my words,” she instructed the older woman. She was going beyond pleading right now, confusing her poor mother.

Anne’s eyes, studying her daughter like she an unsolvable puzzle, showed her mind was going a mile-a-minute, trying to keep up with her eldest, but she was not having much luck. “What?”

“How much would it cost?”

Anne blinked. “Trin, you can’t—” She was cut off.

Trin held up a hand. “How much would it cost?” 

The doctor sighed and tried not to think about how strange her night was. She indulged Trin and was not surprised to see her daughter write out a check for the necessary amount. Trin slid the slip of paper to her mother.

“Are you sure you can afford this?” Anne inquired. She knew Trin had quite a bit of disposable income, but she did not want Trin to bankrupt herself, not that it would matter. She and James would support any of their children for as long as they needed it.

Trin sighed and looked away. “Mom, I asked you not to ask questions.”

Anne nodded and took another sip of her tea. “Fine, but I know you didn’t drive all of this way just to donate money for a stranger’s surgery. Tell me, sunshine, what’s wrong?”

Trin chuckled and wiped away tears that quickly built up in her eyes. It had been so long since her mother called her “sunshine” and it felt so good to hear. It was like a weight being lifted off of her soul. Someone did love her, she thought.

“Mom… I think… well, Tatsu’s going to leave me. She’s just… not happy with me,” Trin said, her eyes now fixed on her tea.

“What do you mean she’s unhappy with you? What makes you say that?” Anne asked in a gentle tone.

Trin sniffled and shook her head. “It’s just become so obvious now. Before she wouldn’t let me touch her, but now she won’t touch me or even look at me. God, there’s enough space between us in bed now, I could park the car there. At first, I thought it might be because of Joss, but that doesn’t explain why she won’t talk to me or look at me. Sometimes, I just feel like she’s so disgusted with me,” she answered, tears sliding down her cheeks and nose. A few tears dripped into her tea. It did not matter. She probably would not drink it.

“Aw, sunshine, don’t cry,” Anne cooed as she reached over and took her daughter’s hand. She held onto tight, reminding her daughter that someone was there for her.

“I just love her so much, Mom! I don’t understand how I could keep her around. I don’t have much to offer anyone. I mean, the people who created me didn’t even want me! Most of my extended family hates me! Why would Tatsu love me if my family can’t even love me?” Trin bawled. She took off her glasses and threw them on the table, ignoring the loud crash of her eyewear against the wooden table. She wiped her face, but it did nothing to stop her tears.

The doctor quickly got up and moved to sit next to her weeping daughter. She embraced Trin and let the younger woman lean into her. Trin cried into her mother’s shoulder while seeking out the heat and security of the only mother she had ever known, the best mother a person could have as far as she was concerned.

“Have you talked about any of this with Tatsu?” Anne asked in a quiet voice.

Trin sniffed and shook her head. “I’m so scared, Mom…”

Anne caressed her head. “Sunshine, it’s worse to not talk about it. You’ll never know if you don’t talk about it. It’s possible Tatsu is scared, too. I remember when you got out of the hospital and you stayed here, Tatsu never left your side. Whenever she was with you, the look in her eyes always contained love, but after you got out of the hospital there was worry. She worries about you, Trin.”

“Then why won’t she touch me anymore? Why won’t she look at me? Maybe she does love me, but my lifestyle’s starting to wear on her. I almost got her killed not too long ago!” Trin wailed at the memory, how her actions had led to Tatsu getting hurt, Tatsu being used.

“Sweetheart, you didn’t do that. It wasn’t your fault any more than it was our fault for hurting you. Those were the circumstances and Tatsu understands that. I really think you need to talk to her before you assume she doesn’t love you or anything close to that. I’ve seen you two together and I think you two are made for each other,” Anne stated while resting her head against her daughter’s.

“What if she tells me she doesn’t love me anymore? I’ll die, Mom! I’ll die right there on the spot!” Trin did not think life was worth living without Tatsu. Tatsu let her be herself, Tatsu listened to her like she mattered, Tatsu was there for her. The world would lose all luster without Tatsu in her life.

“Sweetheart, I honestly doubt that will be her answer. I promise you if you talk to her things will be better for you. Even if she does tell you that she doesn’t want to be with you, it’ll be better than torturing yourself with the uncertainty of it all. You’ll feel much better and you won’t die. Besides, can anything hurt more than what’s happening now?” Anne knew things had be tormenting Trin because she was crying. It took serious emotional turmoil for Trin to cry.

Trin sniffled again and wiped her face one more. “I doubt it. This hurts so much…” she whimpered. It hurt everywhere, too, all the time. She was tired of feeling this way.

“I know it does. That’s why you need to talk to her before anything else. Everything will work out, sunshine. I promise you that much.”

“Why don’t people love me, Mom? Why does no one ever wants me?” Trin mumbled. 

Anne sighed and hugged Trin as tightly as she could with them sitting side by side. “You know that’s not true. We love you very much. Me, your dad, your siblings. God, Shin loves you so much it probably drove him insane. His parents love you and Tatsu loves you, even if you think something’s going on between you two. As for others… well, your birth parents, I’m sure you know by now they had problems. Not everyone comes prepared to be parents, sunshine, and sometimes they make poor decisions or do the wrong thing because they’re not ready.”

“But, why couldn’t they love me? You and Dad love me. Why is it that Dad’s family hates me? Hell, your family hates me, too. What did I ever do them?” Trin bawled. Why did it seem like her being born was just a mistake?

The redhead hugged her daughter around the shoulders to the point where she practically pulled Trin into her lap. “Now, now, you know how your Dad’s family is and you know how my family is. They’re all elitist in some shape or form. They’re close-minded, even though they’re so smart. But, you know when people give you a chance, they love you with all their hearts. We love you like that. Shin and your aunt and uncle love you like that. Your Uncle Slim loves you. My parents think you hung the moon in the sky despite the rest of my family being terrible. There are people who love you deeply. Tatsu is one of those people and if Joss ever opens her heart, she’ll be one of those people, too.”

“I don’t care about Joss…” the blond grumbled.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that. She’s your cousin and I know how you feel about family. Kim’s been calling me and saying Joss is getting better, much more friendly and seems to almost fit in with you all. Is that true?”

“Joss has been getting much better. She just let her mouth run away with her today after a visit from Ron,” Trin explained. She did not even hold that against Joss. She was more upset that her relationship problems were so obvious Joss saw them and called her out on them. Things were bad for that to happen. 

“Is it something you think she meant or something you both just got caught up in the heat of the moment?” Anne asked.

Trin did not even need to think about it. “Heat of the moment.” 

“Then maybe she’s another person you need to talk to. If you’ve been getting along, don’t throw it all away on one upset moment. Your uncle would love for you to get along with Joss. You know how he adores you.”

“I know, Mom.”

“I think you and Kim would be great for Joss, too. I think you’d like to mentor her, too, because I’m sure you can see she’s not as bad as she seems,” Anne pointed out. She knew Trin would not have allowed Joss to stay for the summer if she did not see a lot of potential in her little cousin. 

“I suppose…” Trin sighed, shoulders dropping. She finally stopped crying.

“So, what you need to do is get a good night’s sleep and then go back home. You have some people you need to talk to and clear the air with. Right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good girl.” Anne hugged Trin around the shoulders again and kissed her soft, golden mane. Trin felt light on the inside.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Trin and Tatsu try to fix their problems, but the problem with Joss remains.


	9. One Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu.

9: One Down 

Tatsu tossed and turned in the bed, which seemed huge when she had it all to herself. She felt like she was lying in the Pacific Ocean and was just waiting for a calm wave to swallow her whole, to take her away from everything, to cure all of her troubles by putting her to sleep forever. It would be a huge blessing, saving her from the pain of Trin leaving her.

Instead of the wave, darkness devoured every fiber of her being and every slip of her soul. She could feel it tearing at her, ripping bits from her. She imagined it would be worse when Trin finally severed their relationship. But, she could not figure out how it could hurt more than it did now. It was like there were long, thin needles impaling her every second that went by. When the night was chased away by the light of the rising sun things did not get any better for her.

The brighter it got, the more it felt like it burned her spirit. The sun mocked her by her being high in the sky, shining for the world while forsaking her. She felt weaker than ever before. Unable to keep Trin, unable to keep herself together, unable to even punish the one who hurt her beloved. Weak, useless, so she felt like she deserved whatever came her way, but she was too weak to even take that. She was curled up in bed with Trin’s pillow, the only thing keeping her from having a total breakdown again.

She heard the echo of Shego and Kim moving about the apartment, talking to each other in tones too low for her to know what they were saying, but she could not be sure when that was. With the way she felt, it could have been seconds ago or it could have been years ago. She did not hear Joss, not that she cared, but Kim probably checked on the kid. Shego probably raided the fridge. The sounds faded, so she suspected they left. Once again, she could not be sure of the time. She hoped things were all right between them considering how upset Kim was last night. The one thing she could be certain on was her lover had not returned.

Trin had been missing the whole night and had not answered any calls, not that Tatsu was brave enough to make any. Kim had done all the calling and then reported back that Trin was not picking up earlier in the night as she tried to talk Tatsu down. The mechanic thought her anxiety was going to start gushing out of her pores if her lover did not return sometime soon, even if it meant Trin was going to break up with her. She just wanted to know Trin was all right.

_What if something happened to her? She was so upset yesterday. She shouldn’t have been driving like that. Something could’ve happened. _The thought made her stomach drop each time she had it._ I should get up and go look for her_. She had said that to herself many times, but she had not been able to act on it, had not been able to move for the longest time. She did not know where to start looking, but now, she was just worried out of her mind. She was almost certain she was about to worry herself sick or even to death, so it was time to start looking.

The mechanic finally managed to fling herself out of bed, taking a stumble while she was at it. She flopped, losing her balance and falling just short of the door, but not hitting the ground. A familiar pair of strong arms caught her. Ice blue eyes looked upward and met soft, sparkling tropical blue eyes.

“Trin…” Tatsu whispered, her voice cracking at the end. She hoped she was not dreaming. She would not be able to take it if she was.

“Morning, baby. I can see you slept in,” Trin commented, her voice low and calm. It was the best thing she could think to say at the moment. She was glad to find her brain, mouth, and vocal cords worked around her girlfriend. Those things would make talking so much easier.

“Couldn’t sleep,” the shorter woman admitted, unable to stop looking at Trin. She wanted to wrap Trin into a tight hug and never let her go. _I just want to make everything better. I’ll do whatever I can to make it better_.

A smile tried to work its way onto Trin’s face, wanted to use the expression to soothe Tatsu, but negative thoughts fought it off. Just because Tatsu could not sleep did not mean it had anything to do with her absence. Tatsu could have easily been kept awake wondering the best way to break things off with her.

“If you couldn’t sleep, why are you still in bed?” Trin asked while helping her lover to her feet. She gave herself a moment to take Tatsu in. There were lines under her eyes and dark bags marring her tan skin. Her eyes were red, but Trin could not believe Tatsu had cried over anything. Not her Tatsu.

Tatsu glanced away for a moment. “…Um… I…” She took a breath, tried to collect herself, but found it impossible. She felt so many different emotions, some she did not even understand. How could she form words to explain that? She wondered if she should just confess, lay her cards out on the table about last night, about every night, and hope for the best. After all, Kim had spent most of the night attempting to convince her that she was crazy to think Trin would ever break up with her. At the fact that Kim had done that mostly talking through a closed door touched Tatsu.

“Are you all right?” Trin asked since Tatsu looked ill. It did not help she was in the same clothes she had on yesterday. Something was wrong. _Something is always wrong_.

Tatsu’s brow wrinkled as her eyes searched the floor on how to answer. “I… um… uh…” What was she supposed to say? What could she say to make everything right?

“Baby, please, talk to me,” Trin begged, a tearful look in her eyes. She knew her mother was right. The fear of not knowing had to be the worst thing for her. Her imagination ran wild with horrid thoughts, each one scarier than the last. Whatever her lover was going to say could not be worst than the fifty million things her brain bombarded her with. She needed something to happen, so she could start to heal.

“Let’s sit down,” Tatsu suggested, voice a croaked whisper. It would give her time to gather her thoughts, consider her words, and say something worthwhile. Well, if her heart rate calmed down enough for her to not think her heart was about to explode anyway.

The graduate student did not argue and allowed Tatsu to lead her over to the bed. They sat down, as far apart as possible without one of them being on the floor. They looked at each other and then looked at the space between them. Insides quivered and lips trembled as tense seconds ticked away. There were even a couple of tears shed, but neither mentioned it. The pressure in the room was unbearable before a minute even passed and they both felt like they would explode. Tatsu broke first, her heart unable to stand it any longer.

“Please, don’t leave me, Trin!” Tatsu pressed her hands together, begging. “I can do so much better! You just… I just…” She shook her head, mind jumbled, but she knew she needed to say something. She needed to right the wrong. “I can get smarter and stronger! Just wait a little while, please!” Tatsu had no idea how she would do those things, but she would, if only Trin would wait for her. More tears welled up in two sets of blue eyes.

“Baby…” Trin inched closer to her girlfriend and took the mechanic’s healthy hand into her own, clutching Tatsu’s hand so tightly the mechanic would have winced if her mind registered any pain. Trin looked her lover dead in the eye before speaking with a passion that surprised both of them. “I would never leave you! I never want to leave you! I thought you wanted to leave me,” Trin confessed, voice catching a little from the fear her baby might still break up with her.

Tatsu’s face went from sorrowful to bewildered in an instant. She sat up straight and kept her eyes on Trin for the first time in a long time. “Why would you think I’d leave you? I’m the one with nothing to offer! I can’t be the things you need. It’s like I can’t exist in your world…” she trailed off and sniffled. She could not believe she was listing why her blond bombshell should leave her, but she also could not believe Trin thought she would be the one to break things off.

“That’s bullshit, Tatsu! You are my world.” Trin gave her lover’s hand a tight squeeze, wanting her to feel all of the emotions inside of her for Tatsu. She loved Tatsu so much and she needed Tatsu to understand that. “You’re everything to me. Stop thinking about what other people have said to you. They don’t know you. I want you with me, isn’t that what counts the most? I love you!” Trin declared with fiery ardor. Her eyes were glazed over with deep emotion, her love pouring out in her gaze, igniting a spark that had been absent in recent days.

Looking at Trin now, Tatsu could not believe she missed that look in Trin’s eyes. But, considering she could not recall the last time she looked at Trin, really looked at Trin, it was understandable. She had stopped looking at Trin, stopped seeing Trin, more worried over avoiding any other missteps in their relationship. Little did she know, that was a misstep. Her reactions to each wrong were missteps.

The mechanic burst out into a sob because she could feel the love she had thought she lost. Trin pulled her into a tight hug and held her close. For the first time in a long time it felt like Tatsu could breathe again and it felt the same for Trin. How had they let this escape them? They could not figure it out. Silence surrounded them, embracing and crushing them at the same time. Tatsu threw her arms around Trin and held on for dear life.

The silence remained, but got lighter with each passing second as they clutched each other. It felt like they had been separated from eons and only now allowed to reunite. There were quiet tears again, but they were not as tragic as the earlier ones. Tatsu inhaled and sighed in relief while Trin ran her fingers through Tatsu’s hair. They resisted the urge to rain kisses down on each other’s faces. It seemed too soon and there was still much to be done as far as Trin was concerned.

“Tatsu, what others think isn’t what should count. I don’t believe for a second you’re stupid, so you don’t need to push yourself to be smarter for me. Knowledge should be gained because it’s wanted. You’re already very intelligent, but you should keep growing for yourself. I like you just the way you are and what people say about you isn’t true at all. You’re the perfect one among us, baby. You’re the person who keeps me together. I want us to stay together,” Trin explained in a frightened whisper.

Tatsu nodded since that was what she wanted, too. Part of her still could not believe her blond bombshell wanted to stay with her, though. “You want me, even though I can’t protect you?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Trin had to pull away slightly, stare down at Tatsu with an incredulous expression. “Who says you can’t protect me?” Trin demanded to know.

“I was tricked by that bastard—!” Tatsu did not make any further than that. A pale finger to her lips silenced her.

Trin caressed Tatsu’s cheek. “Baby, that wasn’t your fault. You were actually an innocent bystander who got drawn into a mess Shin and I concocted on our own, as usual. Tatsu, I just want you to be yourself for me. I want you to be the person I was drawn to back when I didn’t want to touch anyone and I didn’t want them to touch me. I love who you are, just like I want you to love who I am.”

“I do, which is why I want us to stay together. I don’t want you to leave me because I’m stupid or weak!” Tatsu pointed out, looking her lover in the eye to let her know just how serious she was.

“You’re not those things, first of all. I want you to understand that, baby.” Trin stroked her cheek again. She wanted so badly to kiss Tatsu and take all of her pain and insecurity away, but she held off once more. “You’re very smart. The things you can do with cars, machines really, is pure genius. People who don’t understand you just want to put you down…”

“You should know that, too. People like your grandmother and your cousin. They don’t understand you. The Possible family who does that to you, they don’t understand you and they’d rather just make something up about you than try to understand you,” the mechanic stated. She could not figure out why they would want to do that. She wanted to know everything about Trin, understand everything about Trin, all the time.

A sorrowful smile graced Trin’s pale features. “We both have some insecurities, huh?”

“I guess…” Tatsu swallowed hard. “Should we be apart to work on those?” People separated to repair themselves sometimes. She was pretty sure she saw stuff like that on television. It did not make sense to her, but it might make sense to Trin. They needed to fix themselves before they could fix _them_ or something like that.

The blond stiffened. “I can’t. I just can’t do this without you, Tatsu. If you leave me now, I’d be eaten alive by my insecurities. I’d blame myself for our split. I’d blame myself for everything. I want us to be as we were before and move forward, too.”

Tatsu felt her heart thump so loudly that she was sure her lover heard it, too. “I want that, too…” She took a breath, trying to gather what she wanted to say. “Trin…um…” she trailed off again and looked down at the floor. A pale hand lifted her head back up, so that she was looking Trin in the eye again.

“Please, just ask me, baby. Anything. Ask me anything, just talk to me, please,” the blond implored.

“I closed the garage. I told everybody it was closed… I want… I thought…” Tatsu growled, made a fist, and maintained eye contact. “I want to stay with you. I want to live… with you…”

Trin was sure everything inside of her halted. She had not been expecting that. Her breathing definitely stopped and she blinked like an owl, which caused Tatsu to consider her with worried eyes. The mechanic’s face fell as she thought she was being given her answer.

“I’d love… I’d love for you to live here, baby. I don’t want you to change yourself for me, though. Are you sure this is what you want?” Trin asked in a tearful tone of her own.

“I want to move forward,” Tatsu said, repeating her love’s words back to her.

“I do, too. I want that so much. If we live together, though, you have to promise me we’re going to be like we were. I want to touch you again, baby. I want to hold you, to kiss you, to make love to you again,” Trin stated in a strong tone.

Tatsu glanced away for a moment and smiled shyly as she felt a little blush burn her cheeks. “I want those things, too…”

“You hurt me so much when you wouldn’t let me,” Trin confessed with a sniffle.

Tatsu clutched onto Trin, holding her tightly, but also gently. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just thought if I kept doing it to you, it’d give you a reason to keep me around. You wouldn’t have to keep giving to me. I’d be able to give to you, at least something, even if it’s just an orgasm.”

“Baby, you give to me, all the time. You help give my life meaning and you give me a reason to wake up in the morning. You know I’ve never loved anyone like I do you and I don’t want to. I want to grow old with you, so for that to happen, you have to believe we’re equals in this. We both give and take. That’s how relationships are,” Trin stated.

The mechanic nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been on edge since thing with your father—” she was quickly cut off.

“He’s not my father!” Trin corrected her sharply.

Tatsu flinched and sobs escaped her throat along with more tears. “I’m sorry!”

Trin’s hug instantly tightened as she realized how scared her lover sounded. “Oh, god, baby, that’s my fault. I’m sorry. This whole thing… almost losing you has me on edge. I’m sorry I worried you before. I want us to work, so we have to get through this. That thing from before, it’s the past. We were both hurt, but we have to come out of it stronger. You complete me.”

“You complete me, too. I didn’t even know I wasn’t complete until you popped up in my life. I didn’t know feelings like this could exist until you and I want to keep that with you. Trin, I love you so much and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. What do we need to do to stay together?”

“We’re doing it right now. We’re talking about what’s bothering us and we’re being honest. We shouldn’t keep things to ourselves, like our fear of losing each other, your thoughts of inequality, and my thoughts that I’m disposable. One step at a time, baby. One step at a time.” Trin placed a light kiss to each of Tatsu’s cheeks.

Tatsu smiled and they finally shared a comfortable quiet. They remained hugged up and fell into a lying position. Tatsu smiled more when Trin did not complain about being on the bed spread with clothing she wore outside. _One step at a time_. 

-8-8-8-8-

Joss sat up in her bed, staring at her feet and wondering what the heavy weight she felt inside was. She wondered why she wanted to get up, walk into the other room she knew her cousin was in, and apologize for her behavior. She tried to tell herself she should not care. She had only told them the truth, she mentally insisted. It was just the truth.

“They’re deviants and perverts…” Joss mumbled into her forearms, which she was resting her face against. She had her arms tucked on top of her knees and her legs pulled to her chest.

They were deviants and perverts who had helped her with her homework, fed her daily, introduced her to new books, television shows, and movies, and took her places for her to get to know the city. They had been to museums, arcades, and a rooftop garden Trin really liked that was breathtaking. She shook those thoughts away. These people were criminals, perverts, and evil. Her mother told her so, she reminded herself. Her grandmother had backed her mother up on that. They would not lie to her.

“But…” Joss started to say to herself, but she shook it all away.

It did not matter. She told them the truth and she should not feel bad about it. She was distracted from the thoughts by a knock on her door. She did not answer, hoping whoever was there — probably Kim again — would just go away on her own. She did not want to say anything else, even if it was the truth. 

The knocking faded and left Joss to her thoughts. Darkness and guilt consumed the room and the teen. The only thing that got through the barrier was the smell of breakfast, which also did not move her. She could hear voices outside, so it would seem that everyone else was fine without her.

“To hell with them…” Joss grumbled and pulled her blanket over her head. 

-8-8-8-8-

“The brat still sulking?” Shego inquired while cutting her short stack of four banana pancakes. It was a late breakfast, but Shego would not complain.

“Yup,” Tatsu confirmed. She did not have to worry about cutting her pancakes as Trin did that for her. She showed her appreciation by pulling the blond into her lap when she was done. She placed several light kisses to an inviting pale neck. Oh, how she missed this!

“You two look okay, though,” Kim noted with a bright smile. She was so glad they were back to normal. She really did not want to see anything happen to the couple since she knew just how happy Tatsu made her sister. Plus, she liked Tatsu and enjoyed having the mechanic around. It was why she did her best to talk to Tatsu last night and she also bandaged Tatsu’s hand for her last night.

“We’re trying, Mini-me,” Trin answered with a small smile of her own as she tucked her arms around Tatsu’s waist. She rested her head on Tatsu’s shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief before breathing in Tatsu’s scent. She smelled like vanilla as she was fresh from a shower, but underneath it, Trin could pick up her lover’s unique scent and it settled her. Tatsu was there, near her, and with her. 

“That’s good,” Kim said with a nod. She would love for things to go back to normal, so they could enjoy the summer, as best they could with school.

“Yes, it is. How are you feeling, Mini-me? I know your feelings have to be smarting from Joss’ callous words.” Concern sneaked into warm blue eyes.

“I’m fine,” the redhead answered and did not go into anymore details. She wished Joss would just talk to her, talk to them. Things had been going so well. She knew what heartache could do to a teenager and she wanted to help Joss through that.

Trin nodded, showing she understood the deeper meaning there. She glanced at Shego, who gave her the finger. That was all Trin needed to know. They would have to do something to help get Kim out of her funk and it would take more than cuddling with Shego to do it. That would have to wait until after breakfast. Trin turned her attention back to her girlfriend. 

“You guys aren’t going to get all lovey-dovey now, are you? I don’t want to throw up on my pancakes,” Shego remarked, pointing to her meal with her fork. 

“I think we’ll be a little lovey-dovey. We have a lot of touching to catch up on,” the blond commented and she kissed Tatsu, first on each cheek, then her nose, and then on her lips. The couple exchanged a few sweet pecks on the lips. Tatsu tried to deepen a couple of the kisses, but Trin did not let her do. Tatsu pouted and Trin fell into an explanation immediately.

“I’d love to have Shego throw up, but I have a couple more things to prepare for breakfast to be complete,” Trin pointed out.

Tatsu nodded and let her lover up. Trin went into the kitchen and came back with small bowls of diced fruit for everyone. She also poured everyone a tall glass of their favorite juice before returning to Tatsu’s lap. The mechanic smiled and wrapped one arm around Trin to secure her in place.

“You know, blondie, I think you’d rather do this fancy set-up shit in restaurants rather than your biochemistry shit,” Shego commented. Kim stopped eating for a moment, just shocked her lover was not saying something snide to her sister. 

Trin shook her head. “Maybe one day, but for now, I’d like to continue what I’ve been doing. Shin and I are working on new things for GJ right now and we’ve having fun with it. We have fun with stuff like that.”

“Well, I know Shin likes almost killing himself. What do you like about it?” Shego asked curiously. 

“Why? You want to be like me?” Trin teased, a taunting smirk fixed on her face.

“Fuck you, blondie. You wish you were _that_ cool,” the ex-thief commented while rolling her eyes.

Kim smiled as she watched her girlfriend and her sister go back and forth. It helped balance her somewhat, but her eyes drifted to the broken door of Shin’s room. The way it was shut, she knew Joss was still barricaded inside. She wanted in, but did not know how to go about it. So, she tried to put it out of her head and just enjoy the little piece of normalcy they had. 

The group fell into their usual routine for the weekend. They settled into the living room to watch movies and get into any schoolwork that needed to be done. Trin and Kim occasionally glanced toward a closed door. Tatsu and Shego could not help sighing, knowing just what was going through their lovers’ minds.

“If you guys are worried about her, you can talk to her when she gets her head out of her ass,” Shego stated. She really did not want to go through Kim trying to talk to Joss before the younger teen was ready and having Joss rip Kim to shreds again. It took a lot of work to put those pieces back together, after all.

“That would probably be for the best,” Trin conceded.

Tatsu looked down at Trin, who was curled up in the mechanic’s side in the armchair they shared. Trin noticed and shrugged. Tatsu sighed again and ran her hand through her hair.

“Sorry, baby, but she’s my little cousin. My favorite uncle’s only daughter. I can’t help caring,” Trin explained with an apologetic half-smile. She wished she did not care, but she did. 

The confession caught all three people present by surprise. They regarded Trin with wide eyes, looking at her as if she sprouted an extra head. She shrugged again. Tatsu did not say anything and pulled Trin closer, silently supporting her in whatever she decided.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with blondie?” Shego demanded. “You’re supposed to be the sensible Possible!” 

“Shego, I’m sure you have family members who get on your nerves, but you still care about them,” Trin argued.

“Four brothers,” Kim chimed in with a smile.

Shego growled and quickly covered her lover’s mouth with her hand. “Traitor.” From the way Kim’s eyes sparkled, they all knew she was smiling, even with Shego’s hand over her mouth. 

“There you have it,” Trin said, motioning to Shego. “Maybe if this was a couple of weeks ago, I actually wouldn’t care, but Joss was getting along with us much better before Ron showed up. Besides, we know her bitchiness this time was caused due to the fact that she had her heart broken. She doesn’t know how to handle that since it’s probably the first time. So, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt this one time to see what she does with it. If she wants to slap me in the face with it, then that’s on her,” Trin replied.

There was a moment of silence and then Shego surprised everyone by saying something. “Impressive, blondie. That’s way mature for you.” 

Trin rolled her eyes while forcing down the urge to vomit because Shego had recognized her effort. She smiled a little when she noticed Kim grinning at her. Her smile widened when Tatsu kissed her ear, giving even more support.

“It’s good to have family,” Tatsu whispered in Trin’s ear, which got her a nod. 

Trin knew Tatsu was commenting on more than her effort with Joss. Tatsu recognized the group surrounding her at the moment was her family. Added to that, Shin was her family, like a very annoying brother. The Possibles were her family and Trin gave her that. She hugged Trin closer to her, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together.

“Love you,” Tatsu whispered and kissed her girlfriend’s ear again. 

“Love you back,” Trin replied.

“Oh, god, can we just watch the damn movie without you two spreading your love cooties all over the damn place!” Shego complained, dramatically throwing her arms up. Movie watching continued on.

-8-8-8-8-

Joss exited her bedroom when the apartment fell silent. It took a bit of an effort, as she had to push the dresser out of the way and she had not eaten anything in a day and a half beyond the candy she had in her book bag. Everything was dark and still outside the room. She rushed to the bathroom, thankful her bladder did not explode from holding it in all day. She took a shower and brushed her teeth, finding she felt a little better with a clean body and clean clothes.

Once that was taken care of, Joss marched to the kitchen for something to eat. Her stomach felt like it had caved in on herself, as a chocolate bar was not the best breakfast or lunch. She opened the refrigerator and was greeted by a large plastic container with a card on top of it. The card was addressed to her. She removed the container and took it to the microwave. While her food heated up, she decided to read the card.

“Cousin, we know life always seems hard at this age and you might think you’ll never feel the feelings you have for Ron for anyone else. We promise you that’s not true. Whenever you’re ready to talk to us, we will be here. But, be warned, you can only push us away so far before we will be out of reach.” The card was sighed from Trin and Kim. She suspected Trin added that last part when Kim was not looking.

Joss sighed and scratched her head. She stared into the microwave as the seconds went down. Suddenly, it felt like her insides rebelled against her, trying to escape through her mouth. Her throat burned and her jaw trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes and she was not sure why. She wiped them away only for them to be replaced by others. She ended up crying into her dinner, a dinner she knew was made by Trin and probably saved for her by Kim, the two people her father trusted to look out for her. The two people she had purposely hurt for no other reason than the fact that she was hurt. The two people who were still trying to connect with her. 

“What should I do?” Joss asked the air. There were no answers from without and she knew they had to come from within eventually.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Anne guest stars in the end.


	10. Growth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney does. Well, I do own Trin and Tatsu, but everybody else belongs to Disney.

10: Growth

The apartment was quiet and motionless. The apartment, usually the scene of more activity than most places, seemed lonely without the typical chaos. The sole occupant was on the couch with a laptop resting on her tanned legs. A wrinkled brow focused solely on the computer screen until a sigh escaped troubled lips. The frustrated expression could be blamed on the lonely feel of the apartment.

“I’m gonna hafta wait for them to come back. Trin knows how to do all of this stuff…” Joss muttered to herself. Of course, she had to work up the courage to ask Trin for help.

The young teen had not spoken much to her cousins since she ventured out of her room after the weekend was up. She interacted with them, but in a very limited manner. She treated them like lepers and they sort of returned the favor. She felt a tug inside of her, trying to urge her to do better, but she really did not know where to start and it did not seem like her cousins were going to meet her at that point. She had to make a move.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know why I even care,” Joss said to the air. She did not know why the guilt still ate at her, gnawing at her insides like a starving crocodile. She knew if things had been only weeks earlier, she really would not give a damn. Why was she so different now with her feelings?

She did not have the answer to that question, not something she could put into words anyway. She just knew she felt extremely bad and she missed her cousins, even though they were right there in the same home as she was. In fact, she felt worse whenever she looked at them and could not figure out what to say to them to make things better.

“But, I want to make things better,” Joss said and it was the first time she admitted it aloud. It felt like it collapsed her chest in and she bit back a wince. She scrubbed her face with her hands and tried to focus back on the work she did not comprehend.

The sound of keys in the door got her attention and she looked up with some hope shining in her eyes. She thought it might be one of her cousins, come to save her from the insanity that was her math homework. She never thought math could be so difficult, but college proved her wrong. Her cousins would help and she considered she might finally figure out a way to make her horrible feelings lessen or go away completely. She jumped when she saw it was not one of her cousins or even one of their girlfriends.

“Aunt Anne, what’re you doing here?” Joss asked as the neurosurgeon stepped out of the hallway into the living room.

“I’m here to see my daughters, but judging by the silence, I doubt they’re here,” Anne answered while slipping off her shoes at the door.

“No. Trin and Tatsu went grocery shopping. Kim had to run out to buy a book for class that she needs tomorrow and swore the professor just sprung it on them,” Joss explained in a near mumble, looking away as she spoke. Her insides went from being gnawed at to being shredded and she feared she might throw up. She could not believe the shame she felt in the presence of her cousins’ mother. She could not understand the feelings since she knew this would not have happened not too long ago.

The doctor nodded. “Oh, so they should be back soon?”

Joss shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Good.” Anne took a sit in the armchair that was closest to the young woman. “So, Joss, what have you been up to?”

“Schoolwork,” Joss answered while motioning weakly to the laptop in front of her.

Anne glanced at the screen, but did not see much beyond numbers. “How’s it going?”

“Challenging.” More so than she expected. She did not mind the challenge, but she was being troubled by other things while she should have just had to focus on her schoolwork. The guilt might have been the reason she could not get the math. She was too distracted.

“I’m sure you’re enjoying it then.” The surgeon paused as her niece nodded. “I hope your cousins are helping you where you need it.”

Joss was quiet for a moment and her eyes drifted from the sofa to the floor. “They do…” she replied in a low tone. They helped her even though they did not need to and she repaid that kindness with petty aggression. Maybe that was why she felt guilty.

“Do you like staying with your cousins, Joss?” Anne asked, tilting her head a little. She supposed it was a blunt question, but she really wanted to know. Right now, it did not seem like Joss was enjoying her stay and she did not see why Joss should have to stay with Trin and Kim if she did not like it. She would like to save all three younger ladies the pain they could cause each other if the Montana girl did not like it there.

Joss ran her hand through her hair and turned perplexed green eyes to her aunt. “I dunno, Aunt Anne. I’m real confused.” After admitting that, her eyes returned to the floor.

Anne leaned in a little closer, resting her elbows on her knees. “What’s to be confused about?”

“It’s just…” Joss rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t know what to expect from them and I still don’t, especially with Trin. I don’t understand your daughters,” she answered, eyes remained glued to the floor.

Anne offered her a small smile. Maybe things were not as dire as she thought they were. “There’s not much to understand, Joss. Have they been being good to you?”

“Yes,” the teenager confirmed.

“Then why is it so confusing? Would you prefer they treat you horribly or indifferently? They’re your cousins and they do want to look out for you. So, what’s so confusing?” Anne asked as she leaned forward even more to make sure she did not miss the response.

Joss rubbed her head with both hands, trying to figure out how she should put things to her aunt. Her brow wrinkled as she searched her mind for the right words. “I just didn’t think they’d like me. I was pretty mean to Kim because she’s queer and with Shego of all people. I mean, come on, Shego was like her arch nemesis and now they’re dating! It’s just crazy!”

Anne nodded, looking quite understanding. “It’s rather wild, yes. We didn’t understand it at first either, but we gave it some time. Things need time every and then, after all. Has Shego done anything to you since you arrived that led you to believe she’s still the way she used to be or that she’s wrong for Kim?”

Silence reigned for a long moment. Joss’ eyes moved, like she was searching the floor for an answer. Once she had something, she looked back up at her aunt. “Shego… looks like she really cares about Kim. I thought maybe it was a trick, but looking at them, it doesn’t seem like it. Kim seems really happy, too…” She trailed off, like she was perplexed as to why Kim was happy with Shego. It did not make sense to her. Kim was a hero. A hero should not be happy to be in a relationship with a villain. This was not some movie.

“And she’s no different than she was before she was dating Shego?” the doctor continued on.

Joss nodded. “It’s the same old Kim. That’s one of the confusing things, you know? I figured she’d change when I found out she was dating Shego, like somehow Shego would corrupt her. It’s just weird.”

“But, if Kim’s the same and you’re treating her as if she’s changed, you’re really the one being weird, right?” Anne reasoned in a patient tone. 

Silence again before another nod and Joss scratched her cheek. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“So, I think you should go back to treating Kim as you did before. Since she’s the same, you should be the same, right?”

And yet another nod. “I guess I should. I think I want to.”

“Well, if you want to, then you should definitely do it. No sense in upsetting yourself by doing something you don’t want to do, right?” 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. What about Trin, though? She’s really weird.” Joss’ face twisted up at the mention of her blond cousin.

The doctor smiled a little. “Well, let’s find out what’s weird about Trin and go from there. I know you’ve always been a little shy around Trin, not knowing where you stand with her. So, what’s weird about her to you?” she inquired in a gentle tone.

“Well, my mom and Nana always said she’s bad and she didn’t belong in our family. She seemed really scary to me when I was little…” the young woman confessed, even though that was not hard to tell. Joss used to avoid Trin like the plague when she was a little girl.

“And now that you’re older and you’ve been living with her the past few weeks?”

“That’s where it gets weird! She’s not really scary at all. She’s kinda normal. I mean, like, really normal, like maybe more normal than Kim. She cooks really good and makes everybody’s favorites all the time and she does all the cleaning, even for Shego, who’s always mean to her! Even for me…” Joss rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “…who’s always mean to her…” It hurt her heart to admit that, to realize that. Trin had not done anything to her and she treated Trin like garbage and Trin was so **_not_** what her mother and grandmother made her think that Trin just took it.

“You feel bad about it, huh?” Anne leaned over to put a hand on Joss’ shoulder.

“Staying with her, I was scared at first. I thought she was going to be so mean to me, so I guess I showed up with a chip on my shoulder. But, she wasn’t mean. It was all my fault and I hurt her and Kim so much and they’re still being nice to me. I don’t know what to do!” Green eyes glistened with unshed tears. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand again, successfully keeping the tears at bay. It was clear she was really the bad person out of them and it was like being punched in the gut to realize it.

“Apologizing would be a good start,” Anne pointed out.

Joss shook her head. It could not be _that_ easy. She had done so much. “I don’t think that’d cover it. It wouldn’t even start to cover it. I mean, I was so bad I actually made Trin run away. I never thought I’d see something like that. When I thought about, I knew she should’ve killed me. She punched the wall, yeah, but not me. She wasn’t even aiming at me. My mom and Nana made me think she’d kill me for less than that, but instead she ran away,” she explained, sounding in total shock.

“Joss, I know this might surprise you considering some of the things you’ve heard throughout your life and Trin’s behavior a lot of the time, but she really cares about you.” Anne reached over and caressed the top of Joss’ head.

Joss stared at her with big, wet eyes. “She does?”

Anne offered another small smile and nod. “To Trin, family is very important and she knows it’s something you take for granted because you haven’t been through what she’s been through. But, family is everything to her. So, when you open your heart and let her in as family, she’ll treat you as such because she knows how precious you are. While you’re here and you see her do all of those things for you, for Shego, and such, that’s her trying to come into your heart. Now, you might find this hard to believe, but Shego’s already in there. Everyone that’s here has let Trin in. You should, too. You won’t regret it.”

“Aunt Anne… why did you adopt her?” Joss asked, sounding curious rather than cruel as the question would have been not too long ago.

“Because she needed me and now I need her. Joss, how she got here doesn’t matter. She’s here and she’s going to be here. She’s a Possible, as much as I am, so you need to accept that. You accept me as your aunt, so accept her as your cousin. Love her and let her love you in return.”

Joss nodded. “Can she love?”

“You’ve seen her do it. You’ve seen her take care of Kim.” Anne was certain Trin had taken care of Joss as well, shown her love. Joss just did not recognize it because she had all those horror stories in her mind thanks to her mother and grandmother.

Joss’ face twisted again. “Yeah, but that girl… that girl… her girlfriend… She’s not very good to her. They don’t even hug or nothing.”

“They’ve been going through a bad patch. They’ll get better. Try not to give them a hard time. I know you’re not used to homosexuals and you’re not used to your cousin Trin or her girlfriend Tatsu or even Shego. Give them all a chance, Joss. They haven’t done you any harm yet, so try to extend them the same courtesy. Your dad really wants you to get along with your cousins.”

Joss glanced away, shame coating her face once again. “I know.”

“But, more so, your cousins really want to get along with you. They want to like you and they want you to like them. You have to meet them halfway. There’s only so far people are going to go before they feel their effort isn’t being appreciated.”

“You’re right. So, what do I do, aside from apologizing?” the younger female asked. She tilted her head, as if that would ensure she did not miss anything.

Anne laughed. “Act better. Be friendlier and don’t try any more preemptive strikes. They’re not here to pick a fight with you and you shouldn’t assume they are or this is just going to happen again. I know you don’t want to feel this bad again.”

Joss shook her head. “No, ma’am. I don’t like this feeling at all. I’ll certainly be better as soon as they come in. I’ll be really friendly,” she vowed, hitting her fist into her palm as if that cemented her words.

Anne smiled. She could not wait to see her niece in action. She hoped Joss was serious and wanted to change. She thought Joss would get along well with her daughters if she just gave them a chance. She also knew it would make her daughters feel very good if Joss connected with them.

“Um… Aunt Anne… you wouldn’t happen to know how to do calculus, would you?” Joss asked curiously, giving the redhead a sidelong glance.

Anne could not help laughing and moved closer to Joss to get a look at the math work that gave the girl so much trouble. Anne kept up with her math thanks to having kids and also to keep up with her husband whenever he had a break through at work, so she could offer some insight. Joss started with questions and Anne answered as best she could. They were taken from their work when they heard the door open and they were joined by Tatsu and Trin, whose hands were full of grocery bags. The couple turned their attention to the living and blinked hard, shocked by Anne’s presence.

“Mom, what’re you doing here?” Trin asked.

“I wanted to talk to several people, all of whom happened to be here,” Anne remarked with a smile.

“Well, we need to put these away then you can talk to whichever one of us you might happen to need,” Trin replied.

“I’ll help. That way I can talk to you in private,” Anne answered and then she looked over at Tatsu. “It’s nothing bad,” she added, knowing how deeply the mechanic worried.

Tatsu had no problem backing off now that she knew her lover was not going to be getting bad news. She put her bags down in the kitchen and then went into the living room while the mother and daughter occupied the kitchen. For a moment, Tatsu was at a loss for what to do and then suddenly she found the remote in her hand. She looked at the arm giving her the remote and was seriously stunned to find out that the limb belonged to Joss.

“I’m not really watching nothin’, so I figure you might want the TV,” Joss explained with a small smile.

Tatsu could only nod. She mumbled her thanks and took the remote. She turned to a movie while Joss went back to her homework. They were both surprised to find they could exist in a comfortable silence. 

-8-8-8-8-

“It’s mighty quiet out there. I hope Tatsu didn’t make too much of a mess when she killed Joss,” Trin remarked in a dry tone as she put items on the counter. She liked to sort a little before putting things away.

“I doubt that’s the cause. I think Joss is actually going to try to get along with you all. She likes it here,” Anne replied, standing shoulder to shoulder with her daughter.

“I thought as much since she didn’t call home crying yet. Still, her attitude leaves much to be desired.”

“I’m sure it does. Give her time. She’s got a lot of brainwashing to work her way through.”

Trin nodded. “I know.”

“I’m proud of you for having this much patience with her. You’re growing up so well,” Anne teased with a bright smile. She reached out and caressed Trin’s cheek a couple of times.

Trin blushed ever-so slightly. “It’s not a big deal, Mom. Joss’ making an effort, too, even if she doesn’t know it. She’s changing little by little and that’s why I don’t mind having her around.” She noted Joss was not as bad now as she had been when she threw her tantrum, but she also noticed Joss did not seem to notice her own change in behavior. While the girl was a bit subdued and withdrawn, she was not as mean, nasty, or rude anymore.

“That’s good, dear. I’m still proud of you. That’s one of the things I wanted to tell you. The other thing I wanted to tell you was that Angelos will be fine. His parents have been hounding me to find out how his operation was paid for, but I wasn’t sure what to tell them. Do I tell them anything?” Anne asked.

Trin waved that off. “No, that’s unnecessary. I’d actually appreciate it if you could lie to them. Tell them they won a sweepstakes or something.” She pulled out some more groceries and set them on the counter.

“And why is that, Trin? You don’t want you brother to know—” Anne was swiftly cut off.

“He’s not my brother, Mom,” Trin stated in a soft tone, pausing to make two fists and stare at the countertop. After a second, she started moving again. “I don’t know any of those people. I’m just glad he’s going to be all right.”

Anne held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. That’s your decision.”

“I don’t want to disrupt their lives. The boys, they’re happy. They have a decent father and they have friends. It’s best I stay a nonexistent element in their lives.”

“You know, she spoke about you, a few times. She saw you the day you came up there and recognized you, if only for a moment. She spoke of you as if you were still in her life. I think she wants that,” Anne said.

Trin scoffed. “Yes, well, sometimes we want things we’ll never get. I’m quite happy with the mother I have and I have nothing to say to her.”

Anne had to force a smile from coming onto her face. Somewhere deep down, she felt ashamed to be pleased to know her daughter preferred her to her birth mother, but above that, she just felt joy. Trin loved the family she had and had no desire to seek out any others, even if she had a right to.

“I met her a few years back,” the blond suddenly confessed. 

“You did?” All of those joyous feelings sank for a moment. Anne wondered if she had done something wrong a few years back, something that drove Trin to seek out her birth mother. She wracked her brain for answers, but came up empty.

Blue eyes focused on the redhead. “I only went to see her to confirm she was a stranger to me, Mom. No one could ever replace you. You should know that.” A smile topped it all off. “I am very fortunate to have you as my mother. Fortunate to have both you and Dad. No one could ever take your places.”

Anne smiled back and then was caught off guard when Trin came in for a hug. “You’re going to make me cry with all of this special attention,” the mother commented.

“You are special, Mom. I could live for a million years and I doubt I could express just how special you are to me. You and Dad make everything possible for me. Everything in my life is because of you two. You’re angels.” They could be nothing short of angels as far as Trin was concerned.

“You make us so proud, Trin. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about how great you are,” Anne promised, rubbing Trin’s shoulder.

Trin practically glowed from the praise. “Thank you. Stay for dinner?” 

“Of course. I do love your cooking.”

Trin smiled like a child who was given candy. Anne chuckled a bit for a second and then regarded her daughter with serious eyes. Trin waited for whatever else her mother had to say.

“How are things between you and Tatsu?” the neurosurgeon asked.

“Much better. We talked, like you said. She wants to live with me. I’ve got to run the idea by Shin, but I’m looking forward to it.”

“I suppose I should tell your father he needs to have a talk with Tatsu. She’s going to have to make an honest woman out of you soon,” Anne remarked, but there was some truth to her words.

Trin blinked, but she did not say anything. A light blush stained her face and she turned to put things away in cupboards. Anne helped a little, but she left before a minute was up. She went out into the living room and requested Joss go lend a hand in the kitchen. Joss hesitated for a moment, but then she got up and jogged into the kitchen.

“Um… your mom said I could help…” Joss explained to Trin, pointing to the living room as a way to help her explanation.

“I have no problem with that. Just ask if you don’t know where something goes,” Trin replied.

Joss nodded and got to work. Meanwhile, Anne sat down next to Tatsu. The mechanic glanced over at the doctor and grinned nervously.

“Trin tells me you’re going to move in,” Anne said.

“I want to…” Tatsu admitted in a mumble, eyes falling to the floor before going back to Anne. Tatsu took a deep breath to stay calm and make sure she maintained eye contact with the surgeon. She had to get out of the habit of looking away.

“That’s good. You know she’s very happy about it. I want you to know, Tatsu, we want you two to work. You make her happy and we, my husband and I, like that. As long as you keep doing that, we’ll root for you, okay?”

“Okay…” Tatsu replied, not sure what else to say.

“Tatsu, you’re part of our family, too, okay? So, you can come to us if you need anything. We want to help,” Anne informed the mechanic. She suspected Tatsu did not have anyone to go to, as she never mentioned parents or other family.

“Thanks… I’ll be sure to remember that. It’s… um… it’s good to know you want me to be with your daughter,” Tatsu admitted with a shy smile. She felt good all the way down to her toes. Parents approved of her. Genius parents approved of her.

Anne smiled back and decided to hold off saying anything about Tatsu making an honest woman out of Trin. She figured later on she would drop hints to let the mechanic know she was there to help whenever Tatsu worked up the courage to propose. Although, she thought Trin might beat Tatsu to proposing considering how bashful Tatsu always seemed.

They sat quietly while Trin and Joss worked in the kitchen. Joss remained in there, even as Trin started cooking. The teen watched her cousin work without a word passing between them. There was some tension, but it was not crushing or intense.

“Trin…” Joss started.

“Yes?” 

“Can I talk to you and Kim together later on?” Joss requested in a low voice.

“I’ve no problem with that.”

Joss smiled a bit. Dinner was served as soon as Kim and Shego came in. The couple was stunned to see Anne sitting at the table as they came in. They took their usual seats while watching Anne as if they expected her to pull a gun.

“Mom, what’re you doing here?” Kim finally asked.

“I love how no one just says hello to me,” Anne chuckled.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s just a little weird for you to be here by yourself. Everything okay?” Kim’s face was a little scrunched up.

“I came to visit my daughters. Is that all right?” Anne countered with a smile.

“Of course!” Kim grinned, very happy to see the older redhead.

Shego glanced at Anne suspiciously for a moment, but let it go since she knew the Possibles rarely had negative ulterior motives, at least when it came to each other. They had dinner with everyone providing intelligent conversation. For the first time in what seemed like forever, dinner was about more than food and teasing.

Shego took in what she was seeing while eating and adding to the discussion whenever she could. Joss smiled much more than she had been in the past few days and seemed to purposely be directing her attention and words to everyone at the table as much as possible. Trin made a noticeable effort to pay attention to Joss, which made Kim unconsciously do the same. Shego shook her head and smirked at Anne. The doctor shrugged.

After dinner, Anne left the apartment, wanting to get back home before midnight. There were hugs all around and several thanks whispered to Anne. Anne only smiled as she returned hugs and then vanished out the front door.

The group of five were left alone and went to unwind with a movie. Shego yanked Tatsu off into the kitchen, announcing they would get the snacks. Tatsu did not argue and the Possibles were left alone. 

“About as subtle as a sledgehammer your girl is,” Trin said to Kim.

“I suppose, but why did she do that?” Kim asked.

“Joss has something she’d like to say to us,” Trin answered. The sisters then turned their attention to the Montana native.

“Um…” Joss laughed nervously and rubbed her palms together. “I’m… I’m sorry about everything before. I was being a brat. You guys have been so nice to me and I’ve just been a burden. I’m going to try my best to be better, you know?” she apologized with a sheepish look on her face.

“If you put forth the effort, we’ll definitely do the same, cousin,” Kim promised.

“I will,” Joss vowed. “I’m really sorry for the way I acted.”

“No need to repeat it. You’ve apologized with words, now show you mean them with your actions,” Trin said.

Joss nodded and her effort was almost immediately recognized. When Shego and Tatsu returned with popcorn, they curled up with their girlfriends and Joss did not even make a face. They were able to watch a couple of movies without a bad word or feeling between them… well, except for Shego and Trin anyway. The first step toward normalcy and now it just had to be maintained. 

-*-(New day)-*-

Joss sighed as she grabbed her bags and shouldered the duffle bag. Her expression brightened considerably when she saw a tall cowboy waiting by the airport exit. His face lit up at the sight of Joss.

“Dad!” Joss called before jumping on him and hugging him tightly. She did not realize how much she missed him until seeing him. Talking on the phone just was not the same thing as talking face to face!

“Hey! I’m so glad you’re back! I missed you the whole summer!” Slim said, holding onto his daughter tightly.

“It’s nice to be back,” Joss replied as her father put her down. He grabbed her bags from her and knew better than to put up a fight or he would whine about she never let her old dad do anything for her.

“Yeah? You always sounded like you were having such a good time while you were away,” Slim pointed out as they started out to his truck, which he had parked illegally. Luckily enough for them, the truck was still there and no one had written him a ticket just yet. Joss chuckled a little, thinking about how Trin had done the same thing when she drove Joss to the airport earlier that day.

“I was!” Joss bounced on her heels as she jumped into the passenger seat. “I met a lot of people while I was there and we all got to be pretty good friends. I have to email so many people when I get in. A couple of people actually live close to Kim and they said it’d be all right for me to visit. Trin and Kim said it was okay for me to come back whenever I could to stay with them, so I could see them and my friends.”

He smiled. “Well, that’s good,” he said while he had a chance to get a word in.

“Oh! And wait until you see all of the new, free stuff I got from the program!” Her eyes lit up. “I should get my grades next week and I know I passed everything with high marks! I’m going to have college credits!” She clapped and raved all the way home.

Her father could not help smiling all the way through. He loved how excited she was. He did not even care that he did not get a chance to respond to anything. He was so happy she had a good time, both at school and with her cousins. He knew she would love them if she ever got a chance to be with them without hearing whispers in her ear all the time.

Joss did not stop talking throughout the whole car ride home, going on about the program, the university, her classes, her friends, and her cousins especially. Joss did the same with her mother when they arrived at the ranch. Her mother matched Slim’s emotions until Joss started going on about her cousins and their girlfriends, but Joss did not notice her mother’s change in demeanor. After talking nonstop for almost three hours, Joss went to put all of her things away in her room.

When she entered her room, she was assaulted by her many posters of Ron Stoppable. She felt a twinge in her heart and then she recalled her cousins’ words. A crush was called so because they hurt, but they promised her that she would get over it and someday she would meet a boy that would have mutual interest in her. It was time to get over the hurt, so she took down all of her posters. 

After her posters were down, she started putting away her books. She put her new calculator in her desk and then started putting pictures up on her walls and on her desk. There were some pictures of her new friends that she promised to stay in touch with. She placed the last picture on her desk, where she spent much of her time. The picture was of her and the two couples that she stayed with over the summer. She then grabbed the phone and dialed a now familiar number.

“Hi, Tatsu, it’s Joss… I got home fine,” the teen reported. “Trin and Kim aren’t there right now? It’s okay. I’ll call back later. You be good.”

“You, too,” Tatsu replied with an amused smile. The call was disconnected, but Tatsu was certain that Joss would reach out again soon to connect with her cousins. It had just been that kind of summer.

-8-8-8-8-

The end. 

I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading as always. I’m going back to my padded cell. I hope you come back for the next story. Thanks again.

If you would like to see more of Trin, Tatsu, and Shin, check out: Pariah, Forsaken, Memoirs of the Malcontent, Night Terrors, Cryptic, Underdogs, Black Hole Philosophy, and The Beast Within: Special Edition. Thanks for reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).
> 
> Come say hi to me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SL-Kassidy-482097488469386/).


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